Simplicity

Here is an entry into my, what Kiwi's like to call "diaries". I prefer journal. Anyway, I went with a Kiwi (Ben) to this beach for some quite time this sunday afternoon.

"I am at the Aramoana beach. Absolutely breathtaking. I am on this small [30 meter rock] ridge above the beach with the tide breaking below me. The beach is long and pristine, with rock outcroppings scattered like miniature islands. The water looks similar to that of the Caribbean -- it is green and blue and I can make out the shapes of sea life swimming by (no seals though). I look to my right and I see a light house, small but enough light to guide the large tankers into the small inlet that opens to the Dunedin sound proper. I am essentially on the other side of the peninsula. I watch a large tanker full of goods make its way into the bay.

Out in the ocean there is nothing to see, save a large rain cloud threatening to get me wet! To my left are large, mostly green cliffs that drop into the ocean. I can follow the [coastline] all the way north -- just barely seeing the snowcapped mountains. All I can hear are the waves breaking. Nothing else. I feel a slight breeze, cold but with my mat and downjacket I am warm enough. The warmth of the sun is welcomed when it manages to break through the partly clouded, blue skies. I smell fresh air. No smell of pollution or rotten fish/ sea weed. My conclusion: mountains + ocean = heaven.

Places like this remind me how insignificant I am. I seem to like to emphasize that but it is true. Put me in the ocean and I would not last very long. Leave me in the mountains and I might fare better but still, there is only so much in my control. I see, hear, feel, and smell the scene before me but still I am not able to grasp it. Even the large tanker was a small dot just moments ago in the raging ocean -- waves, I like to think, coming from the west coast of the USA (but probably from Chile).

I wonder about my place in this world. What am I suppose to do with my life? How am I going to take my place in this world when I feel so small [and so unimportant]? I am not sure of my career aspirations. I am not sure if my academics reveal much about what I am [called] to do.

There is much to learn from the wild world though: simplicity. Isn't that funny? We have to spend a lot of time trying to understand simplicity. People [are] too busy running around and do not take the time to stop and think about [the world around them and their place in it]. [There are so many distractions that cause a complex life].

This amazing [understatement] view in front of me tells me something about my questions: To the top of the highest mountains, to the deepest ocean, how great is God's love for me. The mountains and the ocean are immeasurable and still how much more is His love for the people who inhabit this world. God is good. God is love. God is sovereign. Simple."

Soon after I wrote this I watch some dudes donned in dry-suits run into the water with their surfboards and catch some waves. New Zealand is too cool.