Have You Tasted the Beach Lately? An Edisto Island Reflection

The beach is a feast of sensory delight. 

With our eyes: 

we see faces the color of steak, medium rare. A tiny girl holding her daddy’s legs, playing hide and seek with the waves. A toddler running down the beach, bathing suit bottom sagging with sand and slipping south. 





With our noses: 

we smell its perfume – the sea, bacon frying in someone’s beachfront kitchen, and a tropical whiff of pina colada sunscreen. 

With our ears: 

we hear the symphony of the sea – the waves are the melody carrying the tune. The wind is the harmony. Falsetto birds and ratchety tree frogs add their accompaniment, and wind chimes play timpani. 

With our mouths: 

we taste sunscreen on sticky, sand-speckled lips, ice-cold watermelon soothing sun-parched throats, and shrimp—beheaded, skewered, and swimming in garlic butter. 


With our skin: 

we feel the warm kiss of sunshine on an upturned face, the sudden shock of cool waves licking sand-baked feet, and the purging of stress and fatigue as it races down the beach, carried away by the sea. 

Just as art allows us a glimpse into the heart and mind of its creator, so does the world. God's art gallery invites us to experience the majesty of God. Psalm 19 tells us that creation declares the glory of God, and there is no language where creation’s voice isn’t heard. 

If we stop long enough to see. 

And taste. 

And feel. 
 
When we do, we see God. 

Through sight: 

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Ps. 27:13). 

Through scent: 

“The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand” (Rev. 8:4). 

Through hearing: 

“You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,” (Ps. 10:17). 

Through taste: 

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8). 

Through touch: 

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young,” (Isa. 40:11). 



Everywhere we turn, God is all around us.

Lord, help us experience you in all your fullness. 

Where are you most aware of God? How does he reveal himself to you? I’d love it if you’d leave a comment below and share your thoughts. If you’re reading by email, click here, scroll to the bottom of the post, and click Comments to share your thoughts. 

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Upcoming Speaking Engagement:

Palmetto Center for Women’s Trinity Focus Luncheon 

Thursday, June 12 from Noon to 1pm

This is Winston.  Winston likes to sleep.

This is Winston’s mom, owner and understudy, Lori Hatcher.  Lori has an eye-opening talk for us at next month’s Palmetto Center for Women’s Trinity Focus luncheon.
It’s called “Sleep Is a Waste of Time.”

At least that’s what this editor for Reach Out, Columbia magazine used to think.  Lori has said, “Sleeping eight hours a night means spending one-third of my life unconscious and having nothing to show for it. No productivity. None.”

How many of us view sleep as inconvenient? Lori would watch her college friends sleep until noon on Saturdays, yet she’d be up early not wanting to waste a moment of the day. Her spirit was willing to work long into the night, but her body would be plagued by waning energy, fuzzy thinking, and drooping eyelids. Like so many of us experience in our crazy chaos, we collapse into bed in frustration and start the cycle all over again the next day.

But recently, this self-proclaimed sleep scorner awoke to a new, Biblical perspective by discovering that God CARES about sleep.

Not only cares, but has given us guidelines and principles to help us glorify him even in our sleep.
 

Bring it on, Lori.  We want to hear what you’ve learned.  We promise not to doze off. 
 

WHAT:           Palmetto Center for Women’s Trinity Focus Luncheon

WHERE:        The Capital City Club // 1201 Main Street, 25th Floor // Columbia, SC 29201

WHEN:          Thursday, June 12 from Noon to 1pm
COST:           $15

HOW:             Register by June 11 and pay $15 at http://www.palmettocenterforwomen.org/programs-and-events.php or email Belinda at bdoss@lckcs.com and pay $15 at door.

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