On behalf of the 63d RD,
“We are part of one human family. At our core we have the same human needs and desires. We have the need to love and be loved. We want to know that our life has meaning and that we have a purpose for being here. When we work together as one, what’s possible in our lives, communities, and the world keep evolving. That’s when we know we are all kindred souls.” (Dancing on the River by Mark Susnow, page146)
Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.
This past weekend I went for a drive with my spouse along the ocean, south to a remote State Park where we had to walk a distance to get to a beach in order to experience the sea-shore and feel the sand under our feet. We could have stopped sooner at beaches that were close to the road, but many had chosen to do this. Parking was difficult to find, and one had to park at a distance from the beach making the walk along the highway a little dangerous. We pushed onward until we found a remote State Park with access to a beach.
After we had parked our car and made out the ten dollar fee envelope for day use, we began to walk down the dirt road and noticed that people we walking barefoot or sitting down putting their shoes back on. As we walked a bit further and turned right we saw the reason. The walk to the beach required one to cross a cold stream that went up to ones knees in depth. I watched to make sure I knew the correct water path at its shallowest point as a couple crossed returning from the beach. Then I braved the cold and crossed myself with my spouse who chose to leave his shoes on. The water was very cold, but refreshing since the day was warm. I stopped to brush off my feet and put my shoes back on twice that day.
Then, we began our walk for a long time and noticed that most of the people returning were half our age. We walked for about half an hour before we asked someone returning how much farther until we reached the beach. We walked about ten minutes more and then the path opened up to a protected cove with clean white sand, and a tide that was receding. Only about twenty people were on the beach with a few gulls joining us. Our cell phones had no service. We snapped a few pictures, walked in the waves, looked for that gold coin that we did not find, and sat on a rock in the sun and listened to the sound that the sea makes admiring the vastness before us and acknowledging our smallness in comparison.
As we headed back in the direction we had come a small child was racing towards the beach. Her father, not too far behind her, stated that she knew she was close to the beach and ran ahead in her excitement to get there sooner. Here at this beach we all spoke the same language. We all went there for the same purpose. We all, in our own way of expressing it in the braving the crossing of a cold stream or the child that had to run the last bit to get there, wanted the same thing. We wanted what the sea could give us through the sand, waves, seaweed and seagulls flying. We, although strangers to one another, all wanted and experienced the same thing. We journeyed to the same place and shared in the same enjoyment.
Does a simple walk to a beach and back with a spouse or child have meaning? I believe that it does, and within those simple moments on a beach we connected and refreshed our souls for another day. We had a purpose for being there. I was reminded, by that child running towards the beach, that just for a moment of time I became like that child. I forgot about the world outside of that beach. The world ceased to be my concern. I looked, felt, and experienced wonder beneath my feet, before my eyes, and within my soul as I connected with myself and those around me even when words were absent and only the waves provided sound.
My prayer for today: Great and Mighty God, King of the world. Thank you for allowing me to become like a child, see like a child, and experience like a child, even in my later years of life, amen.
CH (MAJ) Dawn Siebold
Here is the direct email and phone number for anyone requesting support from the 63d RD Chaplain office,
usarmy.usarc.63-rsc.list.chaplain-all-users@mail.mil
650-526-9668