Senses Come Alive at the beach! — A Branch In the Vine

First posted June 2016

Since my mom moved to the beach in New Jersey many years ago, I've been able to spend the early morning hours on the beach.

Now I am basically an intuitive, rather than sensory person (a la Myers-Briggs). But I've found over the years that my senses come alive at the beach.

More than Monet and the other impressionist artists, more than Ansel Adams and his captivating photography, God's incredible ocean masterpiece brings the senses of this highly intuitive, but generally unobservant, daughter of the Creator to life . . . with its interplay of light & shadow.

I love the crowd of fishing boats in the distance and even the gnarly old fishermen on the beach, waiting with their expectant poles for that long-anticipated nibble.

The textures, formations, rocks & shells -- all delight and intrigue me.

. . . as do the occasional dolphin playing just beyond the shore, the audacious seagull that dive bombs my Dunkin Donuts coffee cup (how dare he!), and even the "washed up on the shore" ocean life.

And of course, and above all, the glorious bursting forth of the sun over the ocean day by day . . . each sunrise is unique, but received with gratitude by all of creation.

And I get inspired.

Of course, I do. Creation is the first level of revelation.

So here are the Scriptures I've found that speak to what I experience at the beach . . . time after time. And maybe you do too, but for you it may be boating at the lake, or hiking in the mountains, or strolling down a forest path. And if that's true for you and you would like to share your experience, please do so in the comment section . . . even with your photos.

So relax and bask in the revelation of God in written Word and song.

Psalm 19:1-6 NLT (my favorite)
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.[a]
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
    It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
    and follows its course to the other end.
    Nothing can hide from its heat.

Romans 1:20 NLT
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Psalm 104 NLT
You placed the world on its foundation
    so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
    water that covered even the mountains.
7 At your command, the water fled;
    at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
    to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
    so they would never again cover the earth.

Job 12:7-8 NLT
7 Just ask the animals, and they will teach you.
    Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8 Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you.
    Let the fish in the sea speak to you.

Job 38:4-38 NLT

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
    as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
    and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
    limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
    Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
    and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
    to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
    the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
    it is robed in brilliant colors.[b]
15 The light disturbs the wicked
    and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
    Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
    Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
    Tell me about it if you know!

19 “Where does light come from,
    and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
    Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
    and you are so very experienced!

22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow
    or seen the storehouses of hail?
23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,
    for the day of battle and war.)
24 Where is the path to the source of light?
    Where is the home of the east wind?

25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?
    Who laid out the path for the lightning?
26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land,
    in a desert where no one lives?
27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground
    and make the tender grass spring up?

28 “Does the rain have a father?
    Who gives birth to the dew?
29 Who is the mother of the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock,
    and the surface of the water freezes.

31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars—
    binding the cluster of the Pleiades
    or loosening the cords of Orion?
32 Can you direct the constellations through the seasons
    or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
33 Do you know the laws of the universe?
    Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34 “Can you shout to the clouds
    and make it rain?
35 Can you make lightning appear
    and cause it to strike as you direct?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart
    and instinct to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
    Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the parched ground is dry
    and the soil has hardened into clods?

A Branch in the Vine

A Branch In the Vine