The Promised Land
I left the house at 8:30 this morning. I have been gone since Friday and I’m itching to get into the water. It’s mostly sunny skies, warm and from what I have been hearing, the water is great.
I get to the parking lot and it’s looking quite nice. A little bit of ripple on the water but very manageable.
As I walk down the stairs, I can see the swell rolling in. There are several in the water right now and the predominate one is coming from the South.
I get to the beach and feel the water on my feet. It feels nice.
When I begin to head out into the water, it really does feel like stepping into a bath. It’s just amazingly warm.
It is also extremely cloudy. Of course this is fine. On the drive back to Southern California yesterday, I sneaked a peak at the web cams and the water did look practically muddy. I heard there was some rain on Saturday and some large surf overnight on Friday, but even my hands just inches from my face look obscured, which is unusual. Still, not gonna let that tarnish this experience. The water feels damn good.
I’m swimming south and I am just soaking in the pleasantness of this swim. I’m leaning into the joy of every stroke.
Once I reach the south end, I can see a lot of waves way outside breaking on the large rocks beyond Dana Point (the actual point, not the city).
I head back and just let myself relax into the water. For some reason I am thinking of the river Jordan. I just finished the book of Joshua in the Old Testament which begins with the Israelites crossing the Jordan river as they enter “the promised land.”
When I started reading the bible again a few years ago, I was pretty uncertain how I would stomach the Old Testament. I was so attracted with the story of Christ and the concept of Grace. The Old Testament just seemed like it would be barbarism. There is definitely a good deal of that, but what would one expect? This is Iron age civilization. I decided to read this like one would read poetry written by the humans at that time trying to make sense of who they are and where they came from spiritually. I don’t read the bible as though it is written by God as some sort of “how to” manual for living. Once I made peace with this approach, the bible came to life for me.
I love the whole story of the Jews wandering in the wilderness. I think it is an echo of our own human experience. We yearn to move to the place we were always meant to be, but we struggle with pursuing things we imagine will give us lasting pleasure. We are afraid that there are giants out to get us on the other side of the Jordan, and so we wander and wander. All the while the promised land is practically under our noses. There are instructions written on our hearts that tell us how to live a life of trust and respect for the land and love for neighbor. This life, if we can only live it will yield a good end. But we are constantly messing it up for ourselves and others.
I wonder what is on the other side of my Jordan river. I imagine that I need to map the destination and fight my way to it and then if I am lucky, maybe I’ll make it. However, I just need to move forward toward the pilar of fire by night and the cloud by day and eat the manna lying on the ground around me. The promised land is a gift, an inheritance.
I get to my northern turnaround point and wonder where Bob Marley is - the one buoy left behind after the jr. lifeguards ceased operations in August. I was hoping he might stick around for the winter but I don’t see him now. It is possible I just don’t see him due to the bump on the water. More than likely he has crossed over his river Jordan. Well…good for you Bob…good for you. We’ll see you on the other side next June!
