Encountering the Holy...in the Ordinary

 

It is often easy to over estimate things...to blow them out of proportion.  But sometimes seemingly small, insignificant things and moments are much more than they appear.

There are two books that I am currently reading...one for fun and one that is more faith/ministry focused.  (This is my usual, typical reading pattern.)  My fun book right now is, Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.  It is a memoir relating his experience of a two-year voyage from boston to California on a merchant ship that began in 1834.  My other book is Journaling as a Spiritual Practice: Encountering God Through Attentive Writing, by Helen Cepero.  Interestingly, the chapter I read this morning was about seeing the Holy in the ordinary.

Seeing the Holy in the ordinary...seeing/encountering God in the normal, routine things of every day life.  While not a new idea, it was a great reminder to live with our eyes wide open to the presence of God.  And honestly, yesterday...we did just that.

Fridays typically find me and Angela in Wilmington...shopping.  Her mother lives with us and her care needs mean that other than maybe a quick run to the grocery store, one of us needs to be home in case she needs something.  So, we have caregivers lined up for when Angela needs to work...and we have a caregiver for six hours on Friday so we can get away and do some needed shopping in a place larger than Whiteville.  Six hours isn't much when you consider it takes us about an hour to get there, an hour to get back, and we need to eat lunch.  In fact time goes rather quickly; so we generally stick to our "Friday routine" and hit our normal stores.  Yesterday started out like a typical Friday, but on the way to Wilmington, as we were about to pass an exit that said "Southport" (where our boat is docked at Deep Point Marina) Angela said, "Let's turn here, pick up some burgers, and go to the boat and eat."  Now, one thing I have learned during our 32 years of marriage is...it is always good to listen to my wife.  So I did.

Now, we bought our boat on Friday, October 14, 2022...but after looking at the boat and making the purchase, we had to rush home before the caregiver left.  Since then, Angela has been to the boat one time...for lunch...a quick 45 minute lunch.  Yesterday we stopped by "Eric's Grille" and picked up a couple of hamburgers and fries and headed to the boat.  We quickly set up the cockpit table, got the table set with our water, hamburgers, and fries...and sat back for a very enjoyable couple of hours.  Take note...NO working on the boat.  This was a day to just be on the boat and enjoy it.  Our boat is docked bow first in the slip, which means that when we sit in the cockpit, leaning agains the cabin, we are facing the middle of the marina and can take it all in.  There were people working on their boats, one sailboat further down the fairway was heading out (Yes! I was more than a little jealous), and since this marina is also the ferry landing for the Bald Head Island ferry, we watched as it came and went.

Marinas are not quiet.  The sound of power tools as people work on their boats; engines warming up as people prepare to head out for a day of fishing or sailing; halyards slapping the masts of nearby sailboats; the sounds of ships traveling up and down the Cape Fear river; the sound of the waves lapping up agains the hulls of the boats in their slips...marinas are full of sounds.  But these sounds are not distracting or annoying...in fact, there is someting about boats...even when in the marina...and the sounds that come along with them that is peaceful.  There is a rhythm, a calm, that fills your soul.  

Our hamburgers were as good as expected.  And as we ate and took in the sights and sounds Angela commented, "I can feel my blood pressure dropping."  You see, things have been quite stressful this week with her mom as her needs seem to have increased quite a bit over the past handful of days.  But stepping from the dock to the boat...sitting in the cockpit of the boat with the waves gently rocking us and the rythm and sounds serenading us...we found ourselves in a completely different place.  Of course, if we could have spent the night on the boat or even taken it out for a little sail, things would have been any better.  But none of that detracted from what we had.

While our boat has yet to leave the dock...we are close but I still have a handful of projects to do...yesterday it carried us miles from the stresses, busy-ness, demands, and responsiblities that crowd our lives.  Yesterday, at the dock, our boat carried us away from it all and allowed us to simply be...be toegether, be in the moment, be at rest, be at peace, be in the presence of God.  We recognized it yesterday, but I was again reminded of it today...God is with us at all times.  And while it is often easier to see Him in the big moments of life, or in a service of worship, or a mountain vista, or an early morning sunrise on the beach...He is with us at all times.  And one of the greatest gifts we can receive is being able to see Him and know Him in the normal, ordinaly moments of life.

We can put a price on our boat, in fact the previoius owner did just that.  But encountering the holy in the ordinaly...well, that's just priceless.  And life changing!