April 14th, 2007 by admin

I grew up on the beach around the Atlantic Ocean. Every summer we would pack up our beach stuff and head for the water. It was always a great family time. The Atlantic Ocean however has an undertow that sucks water back out to sea as it breaks along the shores. We would stand where the water breaks and feel the undertow pull on our feet. Rafts were different. You could never feel the undertow when playing on a raft. Everyone loves to play on rafts and on occasion just relax on them. It�s the relaxing that becomes so dangerous. Picture yourself laying back on a raft, your eyes closed and the sun warming your face. You�re not thinking about anything in world except how good it feels just laying there. You�re not aware that the tide and undertow are slowly taking you out to sea. You�re now way off shore and don�t even realize it. God help you when you open your eyes! Sheer terror hits, the people on the beach look like tiny dots, and the buildings look like the small sandcastles you made earlier while playing in the sand. Then it hits�. da dunt� da dunt� JAWS!!!!! You feverishly paddle your way against the tide, undertow, wind, and saltwater splashing in your face. You get back to shore, but it wasn�t easy. You also realize how easy it was to drift away from shore. You never even felt it. I have notice this in my spiritual life as well. We drift� it happens. The most important thing is that we get back to shore. Also, if we keep our eyes on the shore (God) more… we tend to drift less.