The first week of June is when the Holscher family takes their annual pilgrimage to Cape Cod. Our tradition started around the time we moved inland to upstate New York in 1994. It came from a desire to have something for all the children (spanning 20 years in age from oldest to youngest) to experience in common. I also wanted them to experience the sea, which is something very important to me. I grew up in Rhode Island and there is a reason its state motto is “The Ocean State.” Most of my childhood memories revolve around it, and the joy of working on, or near it, has never diminished.
I think the essence of the sea to me is that it has rhythm or cycles. Whether it’s the tides, or waves, or the feeding cycles of the birds, or the pilgrimage of the crabs so they aren’t exposed to those birds when the tide goes out. Everything is aware of the daily ebb and flow of daily life on the water.
People, too, learn the sounds and smells of these cycles. The other night I returned to our cottage from picking up our daughter at the airport. The minute I got out of the car I knew right away I should check the boats. The wind had changed direction and now was a constant 25 knots, driving directly to shore. The sounds told me high tide was minutes away as the waves have a distinct sound at high tide. I recognized the tide would be higher than usual and the boats were in danger. Using the light of an iPhone, I could see the waves were twelve feet further up the shore than usual, driving into the dunes, and battering our little boats. We double lashed the boats and pulled them up the dunes so that only the largest waves could barely reach their sterns, and we thrust the daggerboards through the boats into the sand as an anchor. All was safe and secure. High tide had been at 12:23, only about 10 minutes before we were back inside. The water would only go down now, time for sweet dreams. Because I knew the ocean, I knew what to do.
My friends, God’s kingdom also has cycles and rhythms. When we learn them and submit ourselves to be in sync with them, then we can learn and understand aspects of God. The more we observe and work with those rhythms of His kingdom, the more we find peace. God is inviting you to leave the rat-race for 24 hours to take in the sounds, imaginations, words, maybe even the sights of His realm. The Sabbath is one of our chances to get to know the rhythms of His domain. It’s our destination, our Home. You and I want to know it and understand it far more than we do the ocean or whatever your favorite place may be.
Find a quiet moment and find God today. Here’s a starting place. Isaiah 9:7 reads, “Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end.” I picture the increase of His government and peace as waves. One after another. Nothing can stop them. One after another each one driven by the wind of His Spirit until there is not one shred of evidence there was ever a devil on this earth. One wave of righteousness after another, “There will be no end.” One after another. One wave of justice and another of comfort. One after another. Forever and ever. Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Amen!
