On the beach

Beautiful Nelson enfolds me again like a lover’s embrace. I went for a walk on Tahunanui Beach tonight after tea, listening to the waves, watching the sunset, and feeling the wind stroking my hair. Knowing the silence. Knowing the solitude. But knowing also that I was not alone, nor was I lonely. The silence was communication. The solitude was presence. I was present there, present to the wind, the waves, and the sunset painted in peachy streaks across the sky. I was communicated with. I listened. I knew; knew that I am loved, knew that I am held, that I am alone but not lonely, not unaccompanied. I was present to the Artist, the Painter, the Lover, the Silent One. And the Beloved was present to me. It is enough.

Almighty God, how excellent is your name in all the earth.