BE WILLING TO GO ON YOUR ADVENTURE!!
JUMP INTO IT
In the early morning hours of May 29, 1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay awakened in a tent 26,000 feet high on the tallest mountain in the world. They were about to become the first human beings to stand on the top of the world. I don't know exactly what was said between the two as they laced their boots and prepared to step out into the Himalayan darkness. I try and imagine their thoughts as they opened the tent and took those first steps out to immortality. What was going on in their minds? I envision one stepping out into the subzero moonlight with frost on his eyebrows and the wind piercing his soul and looking back and saying "Follow me!!"
I don't know about you, but for me, every great adventure has started with "follow me" or "let's go". There has to be a start. A jumping in point.
Every great adventure requires action!
There is a small stretch of pristine white beach just west of Panama City Beach, Fl. at the far east end of Hwy 30-A known as Inlet Beach. I love Inlet Beach for 2 big reasons. It is probably the least commercialized and crowded beach on 30-A and because of "the inlet".
A moderate sized brackish fresh water lake known as Lake Powell sits just north of the gulf waters. If you have ever driven over the bridge on Hwy 98 heading into Panama City Beach, the bridge marks the boundary of the inlet. To the north is Lake Powell and to the south is Philip's Inlet. The inlet is a tannin stained extension of Lake Powell. It is the lake stretching its brackish arm to touch the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
I can understand the lake's desire to caress the beauty of the salty sea water. I have spent many a daydream yearning for the touch of those waters on my land locked skin. Perhaps the waters of the inlet dream of being free to roam the majesty of the sea. Maybe they just dream of something beyond their own limits. I can relate to the inlet.
Most of the time there is a thin boundary of white sand that tantalized the brackish pool and will not allow it to realize its dream. The sand forms a wall that divides the two so different bodies of water. The wall is usually no more than a few feet. But may as well be a hundred miles. A division separating the union of two potential lovers. I have walked that beach hundreds of times and felt melancholy that the two can't be one. I have dreamed and wondered what it takes to see the tryst of fresh and salt bodies.
But on rare occasion the will of nature supersedes the normal balance and the passion of nature is revealed. If the conditions allow, the dark, clear water of the inlet will burst through the wall and flood into the deep blue sea. It is a wonderful mixture of beauty, power, force and art. There is a stark line that forms between the greens and blues and browns. They meet but never truly mix. It's like they know they each have their place and only rarely can they share this treasure. The force of water blasting towards the open sea is overwhelming.
Water is a funny, beautiful, mysterious goddess. It seems so tranquil and innocuous but can erupt with the fury of Vesuvius. For hundreds of years man has tried to harness the power of water. We use water to power our cities by building structures to utilize its force. But it is always wild and untamed. It is not a slave to be had but a force to be respected. We play in water for recreation but just as quickly it can turn on us and take away all we have.
On our family vacation in summer of 2018, the inlet was flowing on 4 of the 15 days we were there. The combination of 2 days of rain and a larger storm surge created the opportunity for the rare pleasure. It was a Thursday evening about 10:00pm when Corbet called to tell me he walked to the inlet and texted me, "the inlet is flowing".
We had been waiting for this, hoping for this. I immediately walked to the inlet and indeed the inlet was flowing. It was a dark moonless night and the waters looked black as coal. It had formed a 5 foot tall wall on the boundary. I stood atop the wall and said tomorrow morning at first light I will be here. It would be the precious chance to jump in the Inlet and allow the force of nature to push you to the sea.
The experience is like nothing else. You ride the current through the inlet in the calmly flowing dark water. As you approach the sea, the force increases and your speed does as well. You are pushed along as you see what lies ahead. Violent collisions of ocean waves finishing there hundreds of miles journey as they meet head on the rush of fresh water hurling itself in direct opposition. When you are carried into that collision, at that moment, you feel your smallness in this great big universe. But you also feel a oneness with the creation. It is a chance to play in God's brilliant masterstroke that should not be missed.
That next morning I was there as the sun came up. Only me, alone with God and his creation. Witnessing from the shore the passion and force and beauty. Then it struck me. I had a choice. I could stand on the shore and be a witness. I could take pictures of what I saw. I could write about it in my journal. I could tell everyone what I saw. But that was the problem, I would never really experience it. The other option? I could Jump in the current!
Jumping in creates a whole set of other problems. The water is cold on that early August morning immediately after the storms. I don't know exactly how strong the current is or how deep the channel is. It is not completely safe and easy. I am pretty comfortable here on the shore. So I contemplated the dilemma. Then I was overwhelmed by the thought that THIS DILEMMA is the dilemma of life. Do we stay safe and tell about what could have been? Or do we Jump into the current and experience what God created us to be? Life is meant to be abundant and we are meant to make the most of every opportunity. We can't always play it safe. Sometimes we just have to trust, pray and jump. That morning I jumped in the current. I banished the cold and the fear and the unknown and relished in the force and power and passion. And that is how God meant us to live our lives. He gives us opportunities that come and go. He fills us with his power. He invites us to jump into his current. What's your choice, will you Jump?
A ship in a harbor is safe. But that's not what a ship was meant for.
Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
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