Waves of the Spirit

This week, I sat out at night on the deck hearing the cicadas, crickets and other insects make enough racket to almost drown out the sounds of traffic and the AC condenser—almost enough. Probably my favorite nature sound of all is to hear the waves at the beach. That was one of the best parts about camping at the National Seashore Campground on Ocracoke Island. We were close enough to be able to hear the waves all night long. There was no electricity at the campsites, and generators could not be used after 10 p.m.

The motion and sound of the waves somehow reminds me of the Spirit at work. It is always at work, lapping the shoreline, sometimes gently, sometimes with great gusto and even seemingly brutally. It is always at work but I am not always attentive, especially to the gentle sounds. God’s Spirit is at work in my life, in your life, in the world without fail. Sometimes we notice it, more often not. We tend to notice more when there is the great whooshing of the wind, the roar of unbridled waves in a storm. We notice and are more likely than not discomfited as our lives are disarranged as a shoreline is reconfigured by a storm.

Over the last several months in particular I have been trying to listen, to discern how God’s Spirit is moving in and through Christ Crossman UMC. I hope you have been listening too. This Sunday as we celebrate the Season of Creation in Ocean, I am going to be listening and watching intently as our children receive Bibles, and as our youth share about their experiences in mission this summer. Where and how are their lives being shaped by the Spirit? Where and how is the Spirit shaping the shoreline of our community?

Exodus 14:21b

The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided.