I decided to go for a swim this morning after shooting some hoops at Venice. As I ambled down to the water’s edge a friend asked, “Going to save someone?” being a lifeguard, I sort of expect this sort of gratuitous comment. I thought about it and replied, “Actually I’m saving my own life.”
As the hot November sun beat down on my back (Yes it is 85 degrees in Venice today). I began to run the sands of time, being that I’ve been running this stretch of beach for decades. The gritty sand between my toes, the cool ocean water, salt spay on my face, I inhaled deeply exhaling my troubles and worries with each breath. Touching the lifeguard station at Navy St,I headed back south to Venice Pier. The steady offshore breeze held the waist-high waves up for a bit of a pause as they began to crest, the angle of the sun lended a color of steel to the water and the white trail of the windblown crest appeared as a lion’s mane. I felt my ego dissolving and serenity and satisfaction replacing the need to be recognized or to wanted
. I was a young boy again just running and living in the joy of the moment. Reaching the Venice pier, sprinting towards the cold Pacific ocean, diving headlong into a breaker, I began to swim out a few hundred yards. The ocean water invigorated my senses! Praising Jesus, diving 20 or so feet to the bottom of the sea, I sat cross-legged observing the world unseen to many. Running short on oxygen, placing feet firmly on the sea bed, I pushed off, rocketing to the surface. The bright sunshine welcomed me as I inhaled deeply. The ocean washing any vestige of want from my being I stroked in to shore, appreciative to have received the Grace of God.
