Emptied

I has the privilege to visit Alaska last August (2019). It was quite an experience, which I documented through a blog post ‘My Five Senses”, see Family Adventures. There was so much to take in! I was overwhelmed at times because of the beauty.

There were many differences from how things are done in the lower 48, than how they are done in Alaska. One such thing was that the locals seem to have a better understanding and respect for the land. It’s as though they don’t even think they “have to” recycle, it is just how things are done…there is no effort to protect the earth. I think they see the earth as God sees it, as a living creation.

So one observation was that everyone we met talked about the “tide”; it was what the day was tracked by. It wasn’t what time is the sunrise and sunset, rather it was when was “high tide and low tide”. There was a significant difference between the two which is why it is what the Alaskan people plan their days around.

While my husband and I were there, we stayed in an area that is a little “off the grid”, which is to say a lot since it’s Alaska. We were in southern Alaska, 30 miles across Halibut Bay in a place called Hideaway Cove. We were “roughing it” in a one room cabin, with a toilet and shower. There was no internet, TV or cell service. It was only us and nature (and our hosts). We were so enamored by the rising and lowering of the tide, we spent one evening sitting outside of our cabin taking bets on which rock we thought would be underwater first!

Further, one morning we woke up to some commotion at the dock. The boat that had been safely surrounded by water the night before (during high-tide) was stuck deep in the muddy shoreline (during low-tide). It took eight people to push the little boat back into the water so it could be used to transport people back and forth to Homer, the closest place for groceries and other necessities and only connection to roads to connect us to civilization as we are accustomed.

This fascination with the changing tide continued throughout our time in Alaska. I came to reflect on it as though it was God’s inhale and exhale. Can you imagine??? I love this imagery. When God inhales, it brings all of the water in and then when he exhales, the waters return and the land fills up with the water it needs for life to continue. I contemplated this for many hours!

Consider how it feels to be completely empty of air in your lungs, then when you start to inhale slowly, you can literally feel your body come alive with the new air filling you! It’s like your body comes alive! I believe this is how the earth feels when the water is slowly taken away, it feel like it’s life, it’s air is being extracted. Then when God exhales and releases the water back onto the earth, it feels full and comes alive again.

One specific example of this is when we took a walk along the cove. We had to wait until it was low tide to take the walk because it’s impossible to walk around the cove when it’s high tide - there is no beach to walk on cause it’s covered by water! As we walked we had to be REALLY careful not to step on rocks that were covered with mussels or starfish that were stuck on the shore. These are living creatures who live in the water and when the water is sucked in, they are stuck until the water comes back again.

My take away from all of this was that we cannot be filled with anything if we are already full. God calls us to empty ourselves so there is room for his gifts to fill us. This season of Lent is a time for us to empty ourselves of the sin, bad habits or any of the negative thoughts we have accumulated and filled ourselves up with so we can make room for the refreshment of God’s love, grace and mercy to take it’s place.

This image is a picture we took while in Alaska. It is obviously low tide because during high tide, this land is covered in water. It was so beautiful and pray I’ll have the opportunity to go back to explore!