One Minute Meditation – Summer’s First Dip
Last weekend my family attended our church’s annual retreat at Ferry Beach in Saco,Maine. It’s been a tradition in our family for probably 10 years. I take my first steps in the Atlantic Ocean here every year.
The center overlooks the beach. Each day you fall sleep and rise to the sound of the surf. It’s an extremely refeshing experience. I was up early both mornings to take video and lead a seaside meditation.
This year’s beach weekend was especially good for me. It has been a difficult year for my family. My younger son has had a rough go of it. The setting and the community enveloped us in a sense of safety and love. I felt taken care of. The vastness of the ocean seemed willing and able to absorb everything weighing on my mind.
Primal Meditation
Returning to the sea each June is like recharging batteries. The cadence of the surf washes away stress . It carries away the burdens of life that drain your energy.
While we sat lazily on the beach Sunday morning, my wife was describing a conversation she had earlier. She was talking with a rock climber about how that community was adamant about leaving nature untouched. My wife made the point that if that were even possible, nature would be inaccessible and at higher risk for destruction.
The example she used was Acadia National Park. This gem of the Maine coast exhibits a perfect balance between preserving nature and our personal connection with it. The island is lined with a remarkable trail system. Hiking paths range from marked walks to elaborately executed stone stairways. You can climb at least one mountain from trail head to peak on a nearly unbroken chain of well placed rocks.
These trails give people the opportunity to be in nature, something critical to our health and well-being. Being in nature also motivates us to preserve it. If you treat our natural surrounding as something other than our home, we risk its demise. Living is messy, but we strike the balance between preservation and being alive in our spaces. This weekend reminded me how important our home is.
Ancestral Home
Eons from life’s birth
The sea still calls us by name
And we still answer
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