Altar Call -- Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
March 3, 2013
Captured by the eternal magnetism of the
sea
Something
about the sea captured my heart when I was young. My parents could not afford
vacations when I was a boy. Finally during my teen years Dad found the money to
take our family to
To explain that love is difficult.
I have never had a desire to set sail for distant lands. So it was not riding
the sea that caught my fancy. Nor did I care that much about fishing though I
have enjoyed deep-sea fishing a few times. Swimming was fun for awhile but I gave that up years ago.
Did I catch John
Masefield's "Sea Fever"? Perhaps. That may
partially explain my fascination with the sea. Year after year, for more than
60 years, I have said in Masefield's words "I must go down to the sea
again, to the lovely sea and the sky." Like the poet I have yearned to see
"white clouds" and "sea-gulls flying." So once again last
week my wife and I made our annual journey to
Do we get in it? No,
February is not a good month for that. We just enjoy looking at the crystal
blue water. There is something about the vastness of it, the unlimited power of
it, and the incredible majesty of it that takes my breath away. Men have no
control over the sea; it relentlessly does what it wishes to do without any
human assistance. It is there doing what it has always done and while it is
dangerous it is also incredibly useful -- and beautiful to behold.
This time, for a few days,
the sea was rough and angry. We had never seen the waves come storming in with
such force. Dark clouds, heavy rain, thunder and lightning bolts made us close
the blinds in our beachside condo. Perhaps it was such a day that inspired Carl
Sandburg to pen these lines:
"The sea speaks
And
only the stormy hearts
Know what it says:
It is the face
of a rough mother
speaking."
Stormy or placid the sea
has a certain magnetism about it. It beckons me
to come to its shore again and again, there to relax and let my soul catch up
with my body. The sea has the power to inspire new ideas, new dreams and
visions. Admiring its marvelous rhythm I reflect on my life and reviewing my
priorities I am moved to pray. The sea has a way of inspiring its admirers to
pray. The Navy hymn is but one example:
"Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the
mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea."
Then there is my favorite
"sea" prayer that has found its way to many
wall plaques: "Oh Lord, thy sea is so wide and my boat is so small."
Towns expand and grow. Land
changes as the population grows. New construction of homes and businesses make
it difficult to recognize once familiar locales. But the sea remains, its
boundaries unaffected by the beehive of activity on the shore. I like that
about it -- its remarkable dependability.
Jacques Cousteau once said,
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds on its
net of wonder forever." I don't think the sea has cast a spell on me but I
do admit that its magnetism is quite irresistible. Whatever the reasons, I love
the sea -- and even more the One who created it for our good. + + +