We are enjoying a string of hot June days at the coast. Often when heat rises inland, cooler air is drawn in off the coast, and we can feel much less summer. But not this time. We will enjoy it while we can, and did so yesterday by going to the beach. I used to need to go to the beach every day when we were here. Our time was limited, and I wanted to spend it at the beach. We’d pack lunch, chairs, books and towels and join the throngs. Now that we’ve a house and we can come more often, the need to go to the beach has lessened, but once there, I am in no hurry to return home.
Yesterday there were multiple families playing in the water,
flying kites, tossing Frisbees and baseballs. We watched parents tag teaming,
so one could enjoy the quiet and the sun while the other watched their kids
playing in the cold Pacific. The water never warms up much here, and as
refreshing as it feels on a hot day, it takes a moment to get used to and a
commitment to stay in. Kids and dogs don’t notice. They could stay in the water
all day. My childhood was spent doing the same, though not so much the tag
team. Dad stood patiently in the water while mom got time away from us. I don’t
know what would have happened if the water took one of us, Dad wasn’t a
swimmer, mom was. Maybe she figured she could make it to us in time, or that
Dad could somehow anchor into the sand and still reach us. No matter, nothing
like that was needed.
To me, nothing compares to a glorious day on the beach. It
somehow restores me. I feel a bit of a taste of heaven when I sit beside the
ocean. The power, the beauty, the dependability, the mysteries- just a taste of
what’s to come.
At the same time, we head into the many celebrations of our
nation’s 250th birthday. This weekend marked Flag Day. We had a
parade here in town, lots of flags flying, lots of civic pride, alongside the
protesters with “No Kings” placards. A good juxtaposition of our country today.
Both sides believe they are representing our country, and both are right. Not
blindly accepting everything our country does as right and good is also
patriotic. That sometimes gets forgotten. Disagreeing with our nation’s leaders
is not treason or disloyalty, it’s a privilege and a right we have owned from
our country’s origin. Those founding fathers didn’t all agree with each other.
There were loud, raucous discussions and fights, and out of their compromises
came the freedom to speak our minds and not be arrested for it.
Agreeing to disagree, what a concept. I have always
appreciated a workplace where I was free to express my opinions and desires and
not fear being fired. I also appreciated the wisdom of compromise and
concession. If decisions were made that I disagreed with, I had options. I
could live with the decisions or I could leave. Voting is a bit like that. I
can vote for the candidate I like (or dislike the least) and when the votes are
counted, I could celebrate a win or be unhappy with a loss – choosing to live
with the decision, like it or not, or leave. Most of us stay. Most of us know
term limits are a good thing. Most time two or four years don’t feel like an
eternity. Most times.
Those times when I have to live with the majority decision,
by my boss or by my country, those times are not always easy. Far from a taste
of heaven, for sure. Yet, God gives us choices too. People think the idea of
hell, for example, makes God some type of monster. Hell, in reality, is for
people who don’t choose God. Hell is for those who can’t live with God and want
nothing more to be done with Him. So hell is really fair. Hell is the only place
where God isn’t. Since going to hell has nothing to do with anything we’ve done
or not done (being good or evil) but about whether we’ve accepted God’s offer
of unconditional forgiveness or not, hell is fair. If you don’t accept God’s
gift, don’t want it, why would you, in the end, want to spend eternity with
Him? And if not Him then there is the opposing choice. That’s fair. God gives
us the choice.
Maybe having choices is a taste of heaven. Not quite like a
pastoral day at the beach, but still, I’m thankful for choices.
No comments:
Post a Comment