God, The Sea And Prayer

I have always loved the sea. There may be several reasons for this: one is that I have lived on the eastern seaboard my entire life, never more than about an hour's drive to the nearest beach. Another may be that most of my family's vacation destinations while I was growing up was the Jersey Shore.

When I returned to the practice of my faith nine years ago, my love affair with the sea seemed to deepen. About a year or two after my reversion, I had this strong desire to make a retreat and I knew I wanted to be by the ocean. God was calling me and He was using the sea to do it. Since that time, I make an annual silent retreat by the sea. It is six days of prayerful alone time with God near one of His most beautiful and awe~inspiring creations. I come away refreshed and renewed both physically and spiritually. 

It is about another ten weeks before my retreat for this year (yes, I am counting the days!). This time by the sea with God has become more of a necessity than a luxury for me; I crave the silence, the prayer and the sea.

Just as I am not always able to express my love for God in words, the same holds true for the sea. I love writing about the sea, but words seem to fail me when I attempt it.  However I have found someone who comes close to expressing how I feel about this mysterious and powerful creation of the Creator. Peter Kreeft gave a talk entitled The Spirituality of the Sea. In this 36 minute talk he speaks of the mystery the sea holds, he compares it to a good lover who enlivens his beloved, and how God speaks to us through it. 

All of God's Creation is grand and beautiful, but for me it is the sea where I hear Him and feel His presence most keenly.

Click the link above to listen to Peter Kreeft's talk.

*Photos are from my 2009 retreat.

**For the one or two of you :) who may be wondering why I didn't post this on my blog, The Voice of the Lord Is on the Waters, like I said in my post words fail me when I write about the sea so I have left that blog for now.