Walking On The Pier

I've had a interesting day today. What a wonderful day away from work! Usually I feel exhausted and don't want to do much of anything. But today was different. I felt good and ready to go and do.

As many know, I live in Mobile, Alabama. It sits approximately 60 miles inland off the Gulf of Mexico on a wonderful bay. On the other side of the bay, there is a cute, quaint town - Fairhope. In Fairhope you'll find little shops and very well-to-do folks who are nice and greet you wherever you go.

There is a wonderful pier in Fairhope (as you can tell by the picture). Years ago I would spend hours there with my feet in the water watching the sun set. I feel a spirit that is gentle and calm. Even when storms come up on the bay, there is peace here. I guess it's because I'm a child of the moon and water, that I find soul comfort at the pier. And it's been years since I visited the area. So, today I took my feeling-good self and ventured across the bay to Fairhope and the lovely pier.

The area has been renovated since Katrina (as in Hurricane Katrina). There are wonderful benches which have been placed in honor of veterans and loved ones. The benches and picnic tables sit under a canopy of trees surrounded by wildflowers. As I drove up to the parking area, I noticed a spot near the water where it splashes against the bulwark. I took my water bottle and settled on a bench where I could hear the water and feel the breeze.

I could feel the healing energy of the water and breeze as they gently swayed my soul. It was not long before the water called to me and I had to find a place to jump down off the bulwark and put my toes in the water. It was now high tide and the water splashed up to my shorts as my feet sunk into the sand. What joy I felt in that moment! Peace washed over me. I was in a sacred moment of sun, water and wind.

Funny how the most simple things offer us sacredness. I've been in pain and struggling for months now, even years. At the pier, in the water, I found Spirit. With my feet sinking in the sand and surrounded by splashing water, my spirit joined with the Spirit of Goddess and we felt as one. And as I thought on the moment, a Voice spoke to me.

"See the water. See how it rises and falls. Feel the current underneath. It is strong, but peaceful. All of the crashing is on the surface. Underneath there is quiet. Yet, in the quiet there is great strength. You are this water. Your struggle is on the surface. Your pain is on the surface. But your strength is an undercurrent giving you a peaceful place to go. Learn to ride the undercurrent. The water will carry you out of the struggle."

Oh my goodness! Here is my answer! My struggle is on the surface. It is not the whole of me and my experience. The undercurrent is my destiny. I am not to live as one who is caught up in the surface. I am one who is to allow the undercurrent to carry me. As I allow myself to go deeper in my experience with Spirit, Spirit will carry me through the surface problems to the place of peace!

Amazing how Goddess can speak when we find a place of quiet tranquility. With all of the surface crashing, I wasn't hearing her soft, comforting voice. I think I know now how to move forward acknowledging the waves but finding the peace underneath.