My Favorite Things

It is tempting to break out in song here like, "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, these are a few…,” but I’ll spare you.  Not that my voice is that bad, it is, but because those things aren’t anywhere near the top of my list.   If they are at the top of yours, please don’t be offended, they truly are special, but other things inspire me.  Some of you, knowing that I am a man, might think it’s football, or racing or hunting or whatever men are into.  Those things are on the list too but still not at the top.  

Here is one right near the top:  I used to live in New England near the Atlantic Ocean.  Most people like the beach and most of those like it best during the summer.  While I agree that the beach in summer is nice, I prefer it in the winter, or better yet in the spring. Or even better yet, in the spring when it’s cold and rainy.  And I especially like it when it’s cold and rainy and I’m feeling down.  Think I’m nuts? Maybe, I am but not for that reason. Read the rest and then decide.  

One time I went for a walk on one of those grey, cold and wet mornings when my mood matched the weather.  The details of my thoughts don’t matter because the result would be the same no matter what I was thinking. For a long time I walked alone, cold and wet and thinking.  At some point I stopped and listened to the gulls argue while they feasted on the food that seemed hidden everywhere especially for them. How lucky they were to find what they needed so easily.

I prayed for a while. I don’t remember everything I asked for but vengeance and money were probably among them.   I received no response. Instead He gave me the “Be still and know I am God” treatment.

At another point I climbed up on some rocks and immersed myself the vastness of the ocean.   All of my senses filled with it; endless grey expanse, moaning wind, ache inducing chill, the taste of salt, the smell of its intrinsic life and the stinging spray of the waves pounding the rocks.  It was during this sensory feast, God broke his silence, “This is my Creation,” He said.  “It groans with incomprehensible beauty and suffering, and you are part of it.  ‘How much more are ye better then the fowls?’" (Luke 12:24)

Works every time.  My self-pity and depression disappeared.