He
had lived a full 82 years. He had seen marriage, war, birth, and death. And he
had worked hard. There had been times of much sorrow and times of deep joy. But
living far away from any coast, he had never seen the ocean. Never smelled the
salt air. And never swam in her cool waters.
His
granddaughter had gone off to college near a beach somewhere and told him he
just must come to visit.
“You won’t believe the ocean granddad”, she
continued to say.
For
a few years, he put her off. What was so special about this ‘ocean’. He had
seen it on TV, read about it in books, and swam in the pond behind the house
millions of times. But one morning he woke with an urge to get on an airplane
for the first time in his life and journey to the coast.
As
he walked out on the deck leading to the beach, there was an anxious
anticipation. He could already smell it. Hear it. And when he reached the top
to look out on the beach, he smiled. He even laughed. He was filled with a joy
he had never felt before. He had never seen something so beautiful. And then
and there he decided to move to this coast. To see this view everyday for the
rest of his life. And so he did. The view, the smell and the sound continued to
bring him much joy and he would call his friends back home and say “You must
see this. You must feel this.”
One
day his granddaughter encouraged him to come off the deck. “Granddad, it’s not
the same unless you feel the sand between your toes.”
“How
could it get any better than this?” he thought. But he remembered his doubt of
coming to the ocean for the first time and he walked out onto the sand. And
again his body, his soul was filled with a new joy. He loved the way the sand
felt between his toes. The joy of laying down in it to take a nap or build a
sand castle. He would call his friends back home and say “You must see this.
You must feel this.” He would yell to his new friends up on the deck, “You must
see this. You must feel this.”
One
day his granddaughter encouraged him to get in the water. But the waves seemed
too big. He was afraid. But he remembered his doubt of coming onto the sand for
the first time so he waded along the shore line. The sound was so much louder
here and the water so much clearer. And he was again consumed by an intense
joy. He loved to watch the waves wash the sand off his feet and he began to
collect shells along the shore. He would call his friends back home and say,
“You must see this. You must feel this.” He would yell to his new friends up on
the deck, “You must see this. You must feel this.”He would tell his friends in
beach chairs on the sand, “You must see this. You must feel this.”
And
finally his granddaughter asked him to come for a swim. “Granddad, please swim
with me..” He felt the most intense fear of his 82 years. Was he a strong
enough swimmer? What would happen if he got knocked down. But he remembered his
fear of putting his feet in the water for the first time, and he followed her
in. The waves, they did knock him down. But he got back up and went a little
further in. It took him weeks of trying each day to get all the way out. Out to
that place where there are no more waves. And this time. This time there was
joy. But there was also tremendous peace. A peace he felt so deep in his soul
that he never wanted to leave those waters. He would call his friends back home
and say, “You must see this. You must feel this.” He would yell to his new
friends up on the deck, “You must see this. You must feel this.”He would tell
his friends in beach chairs on the sand, “You must see this. You must feel
this.” He would call to the people
wading in the water at the shore, “You must see this. You must feel this.”
But
as much as he would have liked to, he could not remain in the water. He had to
go back to the waves, where he sometimes got knocked down again. He had to walk
out onto the shore and step in the sand. And he had to walk back up on the deck
to go home. At first that made him sad. Sad that he couldn't stay in the peaceful ocean all the time. But the more time he spent in the depths of the
ocean, the more he realized it was changing him. He was beginning to leave the
ocean for his journey back to the world more peaceful. He was bringing the
ocean with him. He could help others who could not yet swim, see and taste and
feel the same peace while encouraging them all the while to dive in themselves.
