On the Beach

I began the day early walking along the beach as waves rolled in from the Atlantic.  The sun was rising casting a bright blaze over the water.  Several sandpipers sped about pecking for food as the spent waves quickly receded back into the ocean. I put my feet in the Atlantic for the first time since I was with my parents on a vacation as a teenager.  The waves rolled over my feet and I looked down and took a snapshot.  I thought of the blessings I’ve had throughout my life.  For a brief emotional moment I wondered if this would be the last time I would feel the warm Atlantic bathe over my feet.  Not long after resuming my walk, a couple appeared strolling towards me down the beach.  They greeted me in an especially cheerful way and we stopped to talk.  “Isn’t God’s creation magnificent?  Man could not make anything like this;” the woman said sweeping her arm towards the horizon.  I returned to the resort to join family.  After breakfast we went tubing on the lazy river, then Kathy, mom, and I sat chatting in a sauna pool.  It was a fun and happy day because I felt privileged, not primarily for material goods (though they are abundant here), but for considerate people and for the bequest of consciousness itself.   

Print Page