This is a lighten up post. I appreciate your willingness to read my ramblings about racial justice, addiction, recovery and spiritual growth. As the title of this blog indicates, Critical Conversations, I consider them important topics.  I am grateful for your interest in those posts. It’s a big world and we are all but grains of sand: precious, important, and in the big scope of things small.  What makes us big is our capacity for love and joy. And that comes from a lifetime willingness to grow, change and learn.

I spent four days in Miami Beach by myself recently. It reminded me of how much I enjoy the simple act of lying in the sun and feeling warm. I particularly like Miami Beach because it is located where it is consistently warm; my home in Maryland isn’t. I tend to get cold more than others, probably because my blood pressure runs low. That simple gift of being in a place where I rarely feel cold is beyond words. 

Then of course, the bonus is being able to swim in the ocean, which isn’t possible just a little farther north. I’ve been vacationing at the beach for 70 years or so.  I am used to it and enjoy it. Yet, my delight in being there is an adult experience. My younger memories of the beach include lots of fun, and escapes of various kinds; but this trip provides deeper joy.

As an adult, I compare swimming in a warm ocean to being in heaven. The salt water provides buoyancy that makes floating easy. The waves and their various sizes and forces provide challenges and entertainment. And a wonderful reminder that there is a Force bigger than I that influences the waves. So, I abandon my youthful belief in my invincibility and respect the waves; I learn how to enjoy all kinds and sizes of waves. In Miami Beach that usually means just being in the water without fear of the size or power of the wave. And the fun of swimming through the waves and letting them carry me, floating on my back and letting the sun nourish me. During this visit, I got to swim in a warm ocean 2 or 3 times a day for four days. Eternal bliss for sure!

This summer, Geraldine and I will go to the MD/DE beach for two weeks. For one of those weeks, our four children and their spouses, and nine grandchildren, will be there. That will be heaven of a different kind – enjoying the joy and love of family and being together. 

 Trips to the beach by myself give me the emotional and spiritual resilience and rest to be present, and savor the delight of my life’s abundant gifts.

When I’m alone at the beach, I get to practice a friend’s suggestion: “Listen to my body and my spirit and with God’s help, honor what I hear.” This means if I am tired, I nap a lot. If I am facing a new emotional or spiritual challenge, I choose to let it rest; I then see what I can learn or study that might inform my response. 

That’s exactly what I did this trip. I was tired from work on our book, and from processing some recent deaths and losses. Rest was #1. I kept up some meditation and recovery practices that were renewing, and I had fresh energy from being more rested.  I read a couple chapters of two different books – one about Pope Francis entitled First Belong to God, and another an Al-Anon book called Opening our Hearts, Transforming our Losses. 

And although I am introverted, I took delight in the people, the architecture, the noises and the smells of Miami Beach. I was present and drank in all the beauty in a way I can’t when my mind is simultaneously roaming over many topics. 

I met people from Haiti, Bolivia, Guatemala, Czechoslovakia, Baltimore and Philadelphia, to name a few. Each was a short conversation, enough for me to appreciate the ways that we are different and alike, and grow in my appreciation for being a part of this amazing world.  I also allowed myself to feel some sadness at how there is suffering, oppression, and fear in this same amazing world. 

I’m grateful to have a wife and partner who accepts and understands my introverted need for a little “me time” occasionally.  I am blessed to have the resources that not all have; I have choices in how I renew. 

Undoubtedly, these are hard times. What renews your spirit and gives you the rest to keep on, hoping and working for a better world?