NOTHING IS WASTED IN CONTEMPLATION

Inspired for a particular reason I google-- What are the origins of my surname?

Given my draw to and history with Northern and Southern beaches, I am delighted and sort of validated to discover my surname is possibly derived from the word "beach."  It is also an Anglicized version of the Gaelic personal name meaning "life."  So now all those "Life's a Beach" t-shirts I collected make more sense.

That said, in this third week of Advent (joy) moving towards Love, I remember standing on a fragrant night beach in Mexico decades ago, and someone telling me, "It is the Life that is important, Carolina." It is only now I have words for the feeling and fragrance I breathed back then-- it was "radicalized presence."

Next.

When it comes to the uncertainty that lies ahead in 2025-- including where to go with my blog and faith, among other things, I think of lines in the poem Little Gidding by T.S. Eliot: "For last year's words belong to last year's language-- And next year's words await another voice."  Intriguing and a little scary.

Lastly and with life and beaches in mind, I share this Bible Gateway summary of John 21:1-14 that struck me: "Jesus cooked breakfast for these followers on the beach and then provided Peter with a new opportunity to follow him and care for others in the future."  Also intriguing and a little scary.

Peter!  My Story, Our Story, The Story (CAC, Falling Upward).

----------------

Originally I called this post:  To Your Own Inner Life and Beach Be True. It never sat quite right, so I'm changing it on Christmas Eve.  Is this next year's voice whispering in my inner ear?

All this is to say-- I have to disagree with a first-half-of-life "guide" Jimmy Buffett, in Songs From St. Somewhere, when he says, "The worst of beaches will never let you down."  Yes Jimmy-- they can, they will, and they do.  

"Keep your heart tender anyway!" (MH's mother)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cb
Amen
Image:Unsplash










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