Pacified

Long Beach, California.

I wish I could transport every one of you to a series of incredible moments I had while kayaking Monday with my friend Paul.

What began as an introductory kayaking excursion through the Naples canals led to a breathtaking, yes breathtaking, exploration of the Pacific Ocean!! In case you don't remember from that high school history class, the ocean was first given its name, which means "peaceful" in 1520 by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan.

Paul is an experienced (at least more-experienced-than-me) kayaker. Earlier this year he went on an exploratory expedition of the Amazonian interior with a group of his friends. To prepare for that trip, he had to figure out how to use a kayak.

Thankfully, Paul was my instructor, because as we pushed our kayaks into the water and began paddling, my arms were getting sore after a few strokes! Paul looked back, saw what I was doing, and proceeded to demonstrate how to sit in the kayak, how to hold the paddle, how to push instead of pull, and how deep to put the paddle into the water. It took some practice, but after 30-45 minutes I felt like I was getting in a groove.

We had originally planned to use Monday's kayaking as an introductory course for me, in preparation for an excursion to Laguna Beach later this week. But as we paddled through the Naples canals we rounded a corner and there it was - the Pacific! It was breathtaking. Less than a mile of paddling would take us out of the canal, past the rock barriers, and put us at the mercy of the ocean's swells.

Well, we couldn't resist. We paddled forward, taking in the beauty, feeling the increasing force of the swells. My kayak surged up, then back down again. Paul had told me that I would feel the power of the ocean when we entered it.

Exhiliration. That best describes the sensation as we moved past the rock barrier and paddled into the vast horizon of seemingly endless water. We continued out for a small distance and then sat back to let the ocean take us.

Ahhhh!

Somehow, the world felt right while floating on that small piece of plastic on top of the largest body of water in the world. All my problems began to seem smaller, less overwhelming, and only a small part of a much larger picture. A much larger picture: excluding adjacent seas, the Pacific Ocean represents 45.9% of the world's oceans and covers 64,186,000 miles² in area! That's amazing! The average depth is over two miles - 12,925 feet! Across its greatest length it measures almost 11,000 miles! And I was being moved along by this magnificent force. Wow!

Paul and I continued to float and I felt, well, pacified. At least, until I saw guys paddling their surfboards out to where we were drifting. Now, there is only one reason they would paddle so far out, and it wasn't to talk to us:). The waves had begun to break farther and farther away from the shore - closer and closer to where we were! While riding waves with kayaks sounds exhilirating (we're actually going to ride waves at Laguna Beach), these waves were heading right into the rocks! Only a skilled surfer could ditch the waves at the right time.

Being neither a skilled surfer nor a skilled kayaker, I requested that we paddle away from the breaking waves.

But I will always remember the absolute serenity of those moments of being lifted up and dropped down by one of the most powerful forces on earth.

I am now thinking about the most powerful force, who is not simply a force but the being we call God: He who reveals Himself through the restrained strength of the Pacific and all of nature, through the words we call Scripture, through the Nazarene, through the church, and by that which speaks to us but is not us - His Spirit. And I am finding that when I trust Him with my life, I am truly pacified.