I spent time nearly every day last week walking the shoreline. There’s something mesmerizing about it all. The vastness summons you to attention. The waves are fierce and rhythmic, drawing you away from distraction and into wonder and contemplation. What’s beyond our own horizon? What lies behind the veil of our finitude? Without knowing it, you catch yourself imagining (and perhaps even longing for) That Which Is Beyond.
No matter who you are, you can never be too careful when staring into such Vastness—the questions of which are, like the waves, fierce. They drag you toward the Deep. Despite all the nagging distractions and busyness that define our era, you might even discover that you were, in the end, actually made for the Deep Things—for Goodness, Beauty, and Truth.
Next time you’re outside, catch a glimpse of it. All you have to do is look. And be still. Despite appearances, nothing is merely “ordinary.” Every part of our lives—from raising our children to going to work to walking along the shore—nothing is ever merely ordinary. Everything will, if we dare, lead us to something bigger than ourselves.