“Q”uiet

Long Beach, California. Photo by Diane Weidenbenner.

There is something magical about those places that we go, where there is peace and quiet. Our minds can sift through the day’s worries, list of “to do’s” and “what if’s” and settle on meaningful silence. I experienced that recently on a trip to California when I visited the beach.

It was after a very hectic week spent at a trade show with 40,000 people in attendance.

I arrived at the beach as the surf boarders and families playing in the sand were packing up to head home. By the time the sun tipped onto the ocean, there was just a couple holding hands on the beach, me and this seagull. What a perfect moment!

The sound of the waves were reassuring that life has a rhythm, a purpose beyond what we can comprehend. We only experience life a day at a time because if we knew too much of the future, we couldn’t live in the moment, appreciate our family and friends, and take time to learn about God, his great love and blessings.

We’d be too busy looking ahead to notice those important things right at our feet, like the lines in the sand made by the movement of the ocean’s waves or the seagull searching for a tasty morsel. We wouldn’t notice the kindness of strangers, the clean smell of the forest after a rain or the dense, soft fur of our cats as they snuggle into the bed’s covers. We’d forget to be grateful for all that we are, all that we have.