The familiar Cantonese spurting out
from the google box made me grin from ear to ear. For a very, very long time, I
have not heard such beautiful and resonant language from the broadcast of TV
drama serials. And it occupied me for hours after dinner for three consecutive
nights. I was fully engaged and had no time for my gadgets, friends or books.
Day time was equally enjoyable,
listening to the gentle rushes of water beating against the shore, one wave
after another, faithfully and unfailingly creating a continuous stream of spa
effect, relaxing and calming the heart, mind and soul.
The beach is seemingly unending and
uniformly one long stretch of costal sand. But they are very different in
texture; some parts melt in the feet like quicksand, some sank in only with the
stamping of the feet, others pricked the soles with the coarseness of coral
debris. Walking on sand is sensationally therapeutic.
As I walked the stretch, my eyes were
trained and fixated on the seashells scattered amongst the sand particles. The
bigger and more common ones were all strewn along the beach surface while the
smaller and more unique ones lay underneath and hidden. Gems are never found on
or near the surface. They need to be harnessed and harvested through hard work.
I spent laborious but joyous hours picking and bagging beautiful seashells
unwanted and forsaken by the sea which became my precious heartful collection.
They commented that I was like a kid with his whole attention captivated by the
sea and shells and capable of spending hours on the beach; once at sea,
reluctant to return to shore. But I will
return when the time comes.
Jesus says too He will be back when the
time is near.
Matthew 24:36
But about that day or hour
no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father
The road ahead is long and arduous,
especially under the scorching heat of the sun and the lashing blow of the
wind. It was like a workout and it burned calories. After a short distance, my
lips were parched and my throat coarse. It felt fainting under the strong blazing
light. It substantiates the truth in the bible that God is light and who can
stand?
Exodus 33:20-23 (God spoke when Moses wanted to
see His face)
20 But, he said, "you cannot see my face,
for no one may see me and live."
21 Then the LORD said,
"There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22
When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you
with my hand until I have passed by.
23 Then I will remove my hand
and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
As I stretched out for my thirst
quencher, I saw numerous footprints. It suddenly dawned on me that in life, I
couldn’t have traveled thus far without God’s grace. Sometimes I walked my way
and trudged my paths with my own strength and wisdom. Many other times,
unconscious to me and only on hindsight, it was He who carried me through. I
thank you for your footprints on the sand.
It was my virgin attempt to learn
snorkeling. As the lessons were conducted near shore, the water was murky and the
visibility was low. But I had so much fun and I loved it. I felt clumsy wearing
the flippers which seemed to be in my way, all the time. I felt I did better
without them. Maybe I will try again next time.
Because I haven’t mastered the
snorkeling technique yet, I always got choked with sea water especially when I
got really excited upon spotting some unique things. There was a moment of
shock when I thought I had drifted out to deeper sea on sighting a school of fishes, each about 1 feet in length which swam past me at a
distance of just 2 feet away. My pulse raised, my mind in a swirl,
my mouth filled with sea water. Exhilaration robbed my ability to breathe normally. I cannot
imagine the intensity of emotions and excitement if I will really witness them
in clear waters! What a great joy to be with and also watch God’s lovely sea creatures.
For me, the ocean is a love hate
relationship. I love the sea but the bible tells us that the sea is the abode
of the dark, the unknown, the beast. And Revelations says there will be no more
sea in the new world order. I got a little saddened and asked, Will I ever see whistling
whales, dancing dolphins, snaring sharks and nimbly nemos again in the next
life?
Rev 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and
a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there
was no longer any sea.
As unpredictable and unstable as a
child’s emotions, the sea may be calm and tame this moment and the next minute,
turned uncontrollable, crying loudly for attention and throwing tantrums
violently. This is the nature of the ocean.
I witnessed the range of emotions of
the sea; if sunny side up, allowing basking activities of leisure walks,
swimming, snorkeling, and sunbathing. Without much warning, the sky loomed grey
and dark billows of clouds gathered and spanned the skyline almost immediately.
The roaring of the waters beating and lashing against the coastline
intensified. The wind blew stronger and the waves gathered greater strength,
gushing in fiercely and pulling out forcefully, dragging away everything
underneath it. Even our weights failed to withstand the powerful currents and
we fell backwards hurting our bumps. Before we knew it, another wave moved in,
unbalancing our gait, bruising our bodies and slapping our faces.
As I sat on the sand dazed by the fall,
I was stunned by the overpowering force of the sea building itself and gathering
momentum, intensity and speed, wave after wave, until it snowballed into a 0.7
meter high wall of water breaking at shore and collapsing on me, all within a
matter of seconds. I was mini tsunami-ed. When I mentally multiplied the
exponential power of the force to 10x or more, my senses suddenly awakened and
hurriedly scurry to safety, to higher ground, to safety.
Every morning we were awakened by the
sharp calls of hornbills. They usually perched on a tree just outside our room
and we were always treated to a good view of their movements. Amazing sight.
They often come in pairs and it was delightful to watch them especially when
the female picks up food for the male. Who says only human beings show love?
One morning stroll, we met a pair of
geese. The male was as tall as 1.3 meters and weighty. As we approached them,
he craned his neck and tried aggressively to peck at us. On several occasions,
unknown to him, we were equally frightened by his fierce, attacking posture.
The other goose was so different in nature. All the time, she merely strolled
on without bothering herself with the happenings around her. She just could not
care less; very unperturbed.
On the last day, it rained heavily,
from dusk to dawn. As it was a heavy downpour, we could not go elsewhere for
dinner like we did the previous nights where we roamed the streets and other
inns and resorts for food. We were glad that the restaurant at our inn was
finally opened for business after several days of closure. What more can we ask
for, we could still sample delicious and delectable seafood just at our
doorsteps without getting drenched in the rainstorm.
It was a display of excellent timing of
God’s provision for us as He did for Jonah. Just as God provided a shade for
Jonah to ease discomfort, he likewise held back the downpour to allow us to
pass undrenched and leave for the ferry as scheduled.
I will always treasure these
experiences and pray that these lessons learned will continue to fill the vault
of my faith and beef up the knowledge of God, the creator of all things and Him
all the glory and praise.
Jonah 4:6
Then God provided a vine and
made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort
and Jonah was very happy about the vine.
alexjoshua 18 Sep 2008
