Tag Archives: lungs

The Abyss Before You

Standing upon the precipice means one has gained the height by some method of exertion. In the moment of laborious effort, the heart still pounding as the lungs attempt to regain their foothold on sequestering the precious air that spans the depths of the abyss spreading out before you, one cannot help to be taken aback. Suddenly, the breathtaking reality does something quite unnatural and unexpected in that its grandeur is absorbed into the consciousness of one’s soul, permeating that worldly layer of rationality and legalism to become one with the animated spirit within. For once we are afforded a glimpse beyond the veil to which beforehand we were excluded, partly of our own preemptive nature, but solely by God. It wasn’t until the ultimate sacrifice of His only Son that we were afforded access. Some look at that invitation with skeptical ineffability. As one might see the spectacular and dismiss it as just another canyon, others partake of that sustenance of incomprehensible serenity and sup it to the lips as one might communion. One is merely amused, while the other is changed.

So, at that moment, once more, we are given the opportunity to partake in something transcendent of our human nature, to peek into the chasm of eternity, and, if even for a brief second, sense something greater than anything we might imagine of our own accord. In this instance, God’s Word commends this vision as follows, “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”[1]

Thanks be to God.

[1] Galatians 6:7-8 KJV

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Seek and You Will Find…

In the distance, the mountains call.

Seek and you will find…”imagesQ53ZSJ8P

The fluid movement of the gulf stream pushes against my will. Below me, the sands swirl in undulating patterns, to and fro, as the current continues to empty the back bay. My air is nearly depleted, but I push on, stretching the limits of my endurance until the forbearance of life thrusts me up, bursting through the surface just as my lungs explode in a forceful exhalation of water and breath, then immediately sucking life back through my snorkel.

I lay there, floating, drifting on the current, waiting.

In the distance, the mountains call.

Knock and it will be opened unto you…”

Replenished, I dive, driving my fins against the current until I glide along the bottom. The world around me is foreign yet intriguing. In the back of my mind, I keep watch for danger; sharks, rays and jellyfish that constantly appear and then disappear like spirits in the night. Adrenaline rushes through my veins, as my heart beats in my ears. There, over in the next bend lies the conch shell I’ve been searching. Just as my fingers grasp the treasure, the pains return. Too soon, the air is gone once again and I must return to the other place.

images0VGE58ZGA silence of beauty awaits me back on the surface. The bounty nestled safely in my dive pouch. Nearby a small tiger shark appears, approaching in a curious manner, then darts away. My hand reaches for the knife strapped to my thigh, more of a comfort than anything, the feeling of the cold hard steel is assuring. I try to relax again.

Drifting effortlessly once more, my breathing is measured but calm. Off in the distance, the sound of a boat motor tilling through waves reaches my ears. The alien noise does not belong. Like myself, we’re intruders in this realm, yet we’ve come nonetheless.

In the distance, the mountains call.

For everyone who asks, receives…”

379274_4161269401680_615774015_nBelow, the clouds obscure the lower reaches of the valleys. From my vantage point, I can see snow capped peaks, jagged, unapproachable and daunting. The air is pure and clean up here. There is no want of breath, no self-depleting pangs of oxygen other than those that consume the body at altitudes beyond your own physical abilities. I look around and my eyes cannot believe the grandeur of this place. My time here is limited, like that below the surface of the Gulf, yet something draws me; a destiny I cannot explain.

The treasure is not below as I once believed; no, it is above.

Somewhere, a mountain calls, somewhere I must go.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8

 

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