The Ocean Within

The ocean swell rocks me gently back and forth 

and drags me, unwillingly, into a surging wave.  

I tumble over and over in her churning froth, 

Releasing, letting go. 

Over time eternal, my jagged edges smooth and soften. 

Her sway pulses through me, 

a reminder of dark forces stirring deep within. 

The haunting song of a distant whale asks 

who am I?, how am I connected to you? and to life?  

With boundless appreciation, 

I am open to discovering you, 

embracing you, 

loving you. 

I am blessed to have spent my childhood days living near the ocean.  I feel a sacred bond with her.  I am entranced by her spacious nature. Her buoyancy and fluidity elevates and enlivens my spirit and her cool water is rejuvenating, offering temporary refuge from heavy burdens. Her briny aroma lures me deeper and deeper into her mystical essence.  I delight in her great mysteries that every so often ascend from her murky depths: a pod of dolphins frolicking in the surf; a humpback whale breeching high upon the horizon; or an exhausted sea turtle struggling to return to the sea beneath a full moon.

The ocean reverberates deep within the core of all beings. The ocean calls us to remember that we are but one sacred part of a greater whole. The ocean is the genesis for all life and our ancestors spent eons of time evolving within her womb. The ocean’s presence is strong within us and within right relationship, a great source of compassion and wisdom from which we can invite into our lives. The ocean is not simply a body of water that exists separate from us.  She is alive in each of us,  centered in our hearts and experienced through our feelings.  We only need the honest desire to know her in our hearts.

   

The ocean, as with all nature, asks only one thing in return for her gifts, we love her unconditionally.  We speak of her with reverence and gratitude; we honor her within our sacred rituals and ceremony; and we treat her and the infinite number of beings who live in her sanctuary with great respect and care.  Each of us must learn to live in sacred reciprocity with the ocean and protect her from the deadly consequences of humanity’s collective actions- global warming, pollution, overfishing, and the loss of biodiversity.  By doing so, the ocean will care and provide for us and for countless generations of living beings yet to inhabit our Earth.