Background Noise

(pick up a shell and hear the ocean!)

We just took a trip to the North Carolina coast and spent several days enjoying the beach and the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. What an incredible vastness the ocean has. It helps me remember how small and insignificant I am. At the same time there is no more soothing sound than the constant crashing of the waves against the shore. It’s as if those waves are washing away all the stress and discordant parts of my life. Sometimes I think I could sit there on the beach forever.

But nothing lasts forever, and eventually duties as a husband, father and employee beckon. With that, the stress and discord eventually start to creep back in. I wonder then, is there something that can provide a soothing “background noise” back home?

The obvious answer is to buy a CD of recorded surf sounds! Or to listen to music, classical perhaps, or jazz, or Christian praise and worship music. Music can provide a pleasing backdrop for the day. But it’s much deeper than that, of course.

Periods of silence can help. Jesus often sought solitude to recharge or just to start the day on the right note. Quiet and prayer are central to the example He gave us.

But I think maybe the real key is to remember how the ocean made me feel like a mere grain of sand, and how incredibly vast our God is. He set the heavens in motion and is still in control of it all. Even my small, insignificant life.

Brian

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