Turning Toward Home

One more day in the Magical Kingdom of Manzanita. Day after tomorrow we drive away from our three month adventure, known as winter on the Oregon coast. A store clerk gave me a funny look the other day and said: ”Don’t you have this just backwards? Most people go to Arizona for the winter, and you come here?” And I’d do it again. I’ve filled a large, red three-ring-binder with poems, reflections and prayers, taken hundreds of photographs (one seagull looks like another), lived rather spontaneously, which is somewhat new for me. I usually plan my spontaneity. The space, time, and place have allowed me to collect a book of prayers titled “Songs of My Soul” and to publish “Singing To The Mountain,” a small collection of poems. Sue and I have encountered some very interesting people, eaten a lot of great seafood, walked with the Spirit in ways not possible in the desert, discovered some things about ourselves and confirmed that we are very fortunate and blessed to walk the beach together for all these years. 

Yes, how thankful we are for the gifts of these three months. But you know what? It’s true. There’s no place like home. You don’t know how much you value something special until you don’t have it anymore. That’s why blessing each other right now, and often, is so important. The “I love you” or “I forgive you” or “Thank you” or “I’m proud of you” can never be said too much. This sabbatical to the sea, given and received as blessing, is an affirmation of The Source of all blessing. Among the many important statements in the Christian scripture is this: We love because He first loved us. The capacity to love, while inherent in our human makeup, finds its expression when we realize how much and to what depth we are loved. We are loved to love. We are blessed to bless. Maybe the fullness of life is just that: recognizing love received in order to give it away. May this day be such a time of awareness for you. Thanks be to God for the remarkable gift of this moment.