Today my friends are coming to visit. They\u2019re from Europe and I\u2019m excited to show them where I\u2019m from. So this afternoon we\u2019re headed out to the beach where we can buy fresh salmon dockside. This is one of my favorite things. In my opinion, it doesn\u2019t get much more organic than wild ocean salmon bought off the boat! I love the ocean and whether at home, school, or studying abroad I have always lived about a half hour drive from its waves. (Okay, except when I was in Chicago.)\u00a0 But then I started thinking about how easy this all seems to me, and I realized how much I take the ocean for granted.<\/p>\n
When I think about water biblically I go straight to Genesis 1:1-2, \u201cIn the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.\u201d Water also has a cleansing nature, shown to us in baptism, and for me, water is the ultimate source of calm and contentment. The ocean is additionally where much of our oxygen comes from, an essential part of our ecosystem and one of our most crucial economic mediums for transportation and tourism.<\/p>\n
So here I sit, thinking about the beauty of the ocean, the calm of the water and the fresh food which it yields. Are you waiting for the big \u201cbut!\u201d yet? Well here it is \u2013 yesterday I read yet another story about oil spills. In the last few months there have been leaks or spills in the Gulf of Mexico, China, Michigan and a small spill from a boat in Alaska. Our water is in need of cleansing and my outlook is in need of thankfulness as I try not to take my Pacific Coast for granted. You see I can get fresh fish from rivers, lakes and the ocean with little worry or trouble, but many people right now are struggling to provide food for themselves, their families and society in general. In the wake of oil spills God\u2019s creation is in hardship \u2013 not just the ocean, but also God\u2019s people. So as I go to buy a fish tonight I think of the fishermen, the seafood restaurants and the sportsmen and women who all count on the water as a life-giving resource. Not to mention the whole of creation who count on its oxygen and ecosystem.<\/p>\n
So as I go in search of fresh fish, I\u2019ll say a prayer at the water\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n
~ Lana Lile<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today my friends are coming to visit. They\u2019re from Europe and I\u2019m excited to show them where I\u2019m from. So this afternoon we\u2019re headed out to the beach where we can buy fresh salmon dockside. This is one of my favorite things. In my opinion, it doesn\u2019t get much more organic than wild ocean salmon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n