When a day gives us a glimpse of the future we desire.
Steve Dresselhaus Spring 2025
The rock center-left in this photo is the “altar” on which this story takes place.
Yesterday I went kayaking with two people from the Patio. The Patio is the group of Jesus followers with which I get together a couple of times a week for different activities. We are just a part of THE church of King Jesus which happens to meet at the same place and time.
We spent the morning paddling along one of the prettiest coastlines in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Light winds, blue water, loads of sea birds and a wild, rocky, twisted shoreline bent and dented with innumerable coves, tiny bays and boulders made for about the most ideal kayaking conditions imaginable anywhere on our wonderful planet Earth. Of course, the two people with whom I was kayaking are active participants with me in the Patio, so our passion for the ocean was enhanced a thousand times over by our love for the Creator who made all of this possible. I suppose that people who do not acknowledge God and who somehow still cling to the dogma of classical evolution could enjoy the scenery but only partially because they can only enjoy half the experience. Who knows? Maybe they can enjoy warm fuzzies while meditating on the joys of Darwinism. What do I know? I don’t think the way they don’t.
As we paddled along the rocky shore we talked about all kinds of topics. We talked about our friends who are not yet able to understand wokeism enough to flee from it. We talked about how morals and acceptable behaviors seem to have changed, but how the consequences for those behaviors have not changed a bit. We talked about the need to promote the beauty of the church as the body of Christ and not just as an institution subject to the law of unsustainable complexity.
Our destination was a small, secluded, nearly inaccessible cove. At the water’s edge is a large boulder, which over the years has become one of my favorite meditation/devotional spots. I often climb up on top of the boulder, which for me has become a sacred place that is like an altar where I meditate on becoming the “living sacrifice” mentioned in Romans 12. The three of us climbed up on the “altar” and continued our discussions.
A topic of discussion I enjoy is what we can expect in the future. I am a “reconciliationist.” I look forward to the Colossians 1 “reconciliation of all things.” As we sat on the rock discussing sacred things, I mentioned how I could see myself sitting on that very rock at some future date and a dude in a kayak is going to paddle into the cove. I will recognize him as King Jesus as he shouts out for me to join him for a cookout on the beach at sunset. I guess what I am contemplating is joyfully reliving the way God interacted with his people before we introduced sin into the creation. As I shared this idea with my friends, I suspect the three of us kept glancing to the entrance of the cove, half expecting, totally desiring to see that special dude paddling towards us.
All in all, yesterday was a perfect day. Never in a thousand years would I have ever thought that spending a day in/with/at church could be so enjoyable.
macrochristian 