Life is a Holy Beach

                                        Sunday Morning Beach Ramble --  Photo: Ruth Mundy

I don't need to tell those of you who live in Southern Ontario that these 30+C days are oppressive, making regular activity uncomfortable. We're finding that this has been the real COVID-19 test because we are more restricted in our movement because of the heat than we were at the beginning of the pandemic.

We are early risers so we tend to head off at what is an ungodly hour for many to paddle or cycle or walk. This morning our Sabbath time was spent on a two-kilometer stretch of beach in Prince Edward County, to the south of us. The temperature was in the mid-twenties and the beach was virtually deserted, at least by humans. After walking for a while we went for a swim, followed by a sit under a tree. We saw a monarch and a couple of yellow tiger swallowtail butterflies, terns and an osprey.

As the waves languidly rolled in it was blissful to be in the water, then by its edge to simply contemplate a Summer morning.

It was also reverent, with a sense of the holiness of our planet, a gift from the Creator. I don't consider these experiences as alternatives to attending worship in a building at a specific time on Sundays. Of course we can't do that these days anyway, because of restrictions. Our gentle and solitary time on the beach is a complementary form of worship, a celebration of the One who brought all this into being, and the non-human beings themselves.

We do not take these moments for granted, thanks be to God.

                        Ruth Swimming in Prince Edward County