It has been a year, almost to the day, since I began my surfing journey. I make no claim that I have mastered the skill. Certainly, I have hardly taken the first firm step on this wonderful adventure. I have some more time to live in the paradise of Oahu and new adventures to enjoy and breaks to surf. There will be new wipeouts, new friends, and old habits to break. In short, I have a very long way to go, but I am so thankful to look back on just how far I have come as well. It can be worthwhile to look backward in thankfulness before preparing for the next phase of one’s journey.
Surfing will take the rest of my life to master in between trips and movements, and perhaps it won’t be as central as it has been in this past year. Yet there will always be great joy in it. I will never be a truly perfect surfer, nor would there be much fun if the growing stopped, if there were no more wipeouts and lessons. A major part of the draw to surfing is its difficulty and reward, the overwhelming learning curve and the jubilation at overcoming milestones – the first wave, the first stand up, first turns, first nose ride. While I have yet to ride a barrel, that is on my list as well. There are so many other things to pursue and to learn, and it is exciting. I sit in Colorado however while I write this, traveling to visit old friends, and I feel myself called back to this place, drawn inexorably to the mountains, the chill, to a place that has always held magic for me. That means one day surfing will be relegated to a vacation activity, a side hobby, rather than the all-encompassing addiction that it has become. But I will never let it go entirely, and the lessons it has taught me have changed me, and will continue to change me.
While surfing may not always be a part of my life in the weekly (sometimes daily) sense of practice, Christianity will be. The lessons that translate from the sea into sanctification will stay with me, blessedly, and I am so thankful for the opportunity God has granted to learn this skill in all its difficulty and beauty. He taught me so much more about Himself and His people and this Christian life. He taught me to dive into fears, not flee from them, that I can hold my breath better than I thought, that there is always more to learn, and, perhaps most importantly, He taught me joy anew after many long years that seemed lost to it. Finally, He taught me to not take things so seriously. At least half the joy of surfing is enjoying the wipeouts after all – laughing at yourself.
This marks an end to surfing sanctification as a weekly blog, but I won’t stop writing about sanctification, about the tools we need to grow in Our Lord. What comes next, you may ask? What is the next topic, the next series of posts? Well, simply put, I don’t know. I expect there may be need to have some musings on beauty and longing, but more on that to follow. Thank you so much for coming along with me for this ride. May Our Father bless you all as you grow in His grace. I’ll catch you in the waves, and, if not on this side of eternity, in the eternal city one day. Thanks for reading!
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