perspective

One thing the ocean offers me is perspective. I see how large the earth is. I see the line at the far end of the horizon. My creature-hood is undeniable. I am face to face with the reality that a Larger Force rules the Universe.

Webster tells me perspective means "the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship."

Faculty of seeing. My eyes can see limited distances. I am not omnipresent. I can't see everything. At times I become blinded to my weaknesses and faults. I need help - God's help, friends' help - to see them. They lend me perspective.

All the relevant data. I don't know it all. Our brains sift information all day long. What is meaningful data and what is not? I'm not omniscient.

In a meaningful relationship. There's nothing like relationships to remind us of our powerlessness. I can't control what another does or says. I'm not omnipotent.

Like a glass of water sloshing and then settling once it has been placed on a firm counter, my soul settles at the beach. When one of my boys is carsick, I instruct him to look at the road. Anyone who has been motion sick knows that by looking at the horizon, the inner ear is oriented and the nausea-section of the brain calmed. And so it goes with the ocean and my soul.

Today I am grateful for perspective. I am aware of my creature-hood. And I look out at the horizon and I am grounded and fed and satisfied.