Tranquility

Water.

Essential for any and all life forms.

I find peace through water. I could listen to waves crashing on a rocky shore and my soul would be calm.
 I can swim the length of a pool, counting my strokes and controlling my breath. With each 5th stroke, I breathe, filling my lungs and submerging once again. While swimming I feel powerful and in control. As long as I keep moving, I am safe.
Yet, at the same time, the feeling of floating in open water, staring at the blue sky, focusing only on each breath, in....and out...., leaves me wearily at ease.
And watching dolphins gliding through the water, with a confidence to be envied and an innocent love to be dreamt about, I am reassured of God's grace.

However, recently the world has experienced all too well, the destructive effects of water. When combined with the powerful forces of nature, it is devastating.
Tsunamis.
Hurricanes.
Floods.
People die. People lose their homes, their loved ones, their lives.
Yet, when all is calm once more, the sunshine still sparkles, reflecting on the water's pure surface. 

And now, as a possible petty sort of revenge, oil pollutes the essence of life. It blackens the surface, there is no sunshine. Blameless life is taken, not because of an act of mother nature, but a totally preventable destructive element by man. I feel ashamed.

Life is fragile. 

Love always.

Seek peace in the simple moments. 

Find tranquility in the amazing gifts of God.