The sea and beyond
The vast expanse of the sea is beautiful to behold! Varying shades of blue, silent, calm, and peaceful. There is more to the sea, however, than meets the eye.
One is transported to Alpha, to Genesis.
“1 In the beginning, when God created the universe, 2 the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. 3 Then God commanded, “Let there be light”—and light appeared. 4 God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness, 5 and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening passed and morning came—that was the first day.
“6-7 Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places”— and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it. 8 He named the dome “Sky.” Evening passed and morning came—that was the second day.
“9 Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear”—and it was done. 10 He named the land “Earth,” and the water which had come together he named “Sea.” And God was pleased with what he saw. "
If only the seas could speak, countless tales can be heard across time, about people, about our world.
The seas can boast about the rich bounty and provisions that nurtured life and people. The seas can share tales about how the waters linked humans and nations throughout time.
Silent and peaceful, the seas do not brag about their role for life, preservation, and harmony for all people and our planet.
Their depths contain untold secrets of life and death, of the past, the present, and the future, of lost potentials and of future hopes and promises. There is still so much to discover about our seas, so much more to learn about how seas can continue to sustainably nurture humanity and how humans in turn, can protect and preserve the seas.
The seas can turn violent, however, its tall and powerful waves claiming lives and causing destruction as well.
Gratefully, the calm and quiet, rather than the stormy, wavy seas normally accompany us through most days.
The seas' most intimate companions are the seafarers and the fisherfolks. Where others see only the blue vastness, these intimate sea companions understand the breadth, width, and depth of the seas as their lives are intricately linked with the seas.
The seas bring us back to our humanity and connect us to the Divine. So much to appreciate, to learn, to discern about the seas in our lives.
The beauty, serenity, and the bounty of our seas, however, are violated, desecrated, and threatened by the excesses, neglect, and irresponsibility of the people the seas have continued to nurture through the years.
The seas, their creatures, and their resources are now drowned by plastics and other pollutants carelessly disposed of by abusive, irresponsible, and ungrateful creatures who do not deserve to be ranked among the noble humans and stewards of all creation.
The seas have been there since the creation of this earth, coming in before and for sure outliving the humans created on the sixth day. Will the seas witness more responsible stewards from here on?
Truly, there is more to the seas than meets our eyes and senses. Our seas have nurtured our lives - have we, in turn, nurtured our seas?