A few pieces of my life Story:
Windsurfing is a passion I love to talk about and hope to share soon at the lakes near where I live!
(sailing past a surprise sea turtle off Kanaha Beach Maui Hawaii)
I love blasting out of the water like a water-skier and flying through the air to carve pathways through the waves! I love being empowered, and even overpowered by a mysterious invisible force! And I also love it when a gentle soft breeze glides me across the calm waters of a lake as I take in the changing colors of a sunset or get to ponder the flying of egrets and ospreys diving for fish.
As long as I can remember I have loved the outdoors and the water, and to be honest, I also have always had what seems like a major need for speed and excitement! I found it all in the sport of windsurfing.
I took it up about 40 years ago shortly after I gave up street riding on my motorcycle.
I often sail with as big a sail as possible. Even on difficult days. The people that I sailed with in
Good part is…, when I crash, I get wet! I sometimes skip across the water like a stone. I skip. I flop. And I get wet! That’s all! Just wet! And then I get up and do it again.
After one of my friends got hurt badly on his street bike, I thought about selling my bike and taking up windsurfing. I eventually did, and have been sailing ever since. I will share more about that later.
The world windsurf speed record was set on a very longboard back in 2020. Three windsurfers with three sails all on one very longboard accelerated to 64 mph. Now that’s...
SOME INCREDIBLE BLASTING!
As I mentioned, earlier, as long as I can remember I have had what seems like a major need for speed and excitement and I also had a friend who had a tragic motorcycle accident.
There is a sailing proverb that talks about lessening tragedies like crashing or capsizing, but the true meaning goes much deeper. The saying goes like this...
"You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails."
But if you are like me, you will be tempted to paraphrase it too...
"You can’t control everything, but you can use control to get what you want."
Coincidence can make these statements seem equal. But they are not. The coincidence for me was that switching from fast motorcycle riding to fast windsurfing was a huge reduction in risk. On my bike I was always either over twisting the throttle or looking for the next place where I could.
This is not uncommon in our society. Most of us have seen reckless motorcycle riders on the freeways, sometimes doing wheelies at full highway speeds.
Compared to some of them I was very, very tame. And my friend's accident did get my attention. But his accident isn't really what awakened me. I kept and rode my bike for some time after his accident. Recklessly!
What changed me was, I had a spiritual awakening.
Let me explain. Even though I knew my recklessness was risky and I experienced fear, I still wasn't willing, and therefore unable to be safe from the tragedy that pursued me. For me, "control," was the problem. Not the solution. So the idea of self-control became skewed. It was as though I was holding a fire extinguisher filled with gasoline.
It wasn't about what I could control because I misused the control that I had. I stubbornly refused to yield my sense of power and I chose to ignore the teaching of my faith and even reason. At times I would become laser focused on going ever faster, consumed with the elation that my reckless speeding brought me! I closed my eyes to the risks and potential loss and consequences to myself and others.
I didn't awaken until I realized that my devotion to my imagined, "need," was merely our present expression of what the ancients called, “Idolatry.” My actions were willing offerings of self destructive, “Sacrifice,” to the god of my devotion, the god that I truly pursued, the god I passionately sought to bring pleasure and fulfillment into my life.
You may mistakenly think that, "this god," would be found in the very passions that I pursued! But no! My god, wasn't my passion. My god was more cruel than any passion! My god was the reckless ruler that so carelessly imposed his will!
It was, "the god,” we are all taught to cherish in our humanist age.
photo from http://www.manhusbanddad.com/vocation/man/twelve-righteous-virtues/
It was the, "me, myself and I, that I, WILLFULLY CHOSE! The, "Me," I sought to CREATE and chose to PRESENT.
My devotion was to my own absolute autonomy. My religiousness at that time, or lack thereof, was merely an expression of this same Self-Willed-Autonomy. I didn't experience freedom until I examined myself and surrendered my right to self ruler-ship and embraced the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
I had been taught to be religious since early childhood. I grew up in a strong liturgical system that also embraced applying bible truths found by the patriarchs and through present day group and personal bible study.
In general, much of my religious practice was sound. But I personally never truly understood the dynamics of idolatry and what submission to the Lordship of an all powerful, all knowing, loving and redeeming God truly meant.
I was superficially committed. But my commitment was intentionally limited and subject to the choices of my own personal preference. I was committed to the, “god of my own understanding."
I refused to examine the cracks in my spiritual foundation just as I refused to acknowledge and examine my motorcycle recklessness and other areas of wonton decay and wickedness I carefully kept hidden.
By my refusal, I became completely unable to submit my will to anyone that I did not fully agree with; even those representing the legitimate authority of God as clearly expressed in His word. In My Religion I remade God to be my servant.
My "Self-Will," was my god and I was totally devoted.
Today, there are big divisions in our country. Some are seeking "Change," to correct what they feel are injustices by enforcing Progressive Social edicts. Others rigidly resist these edicts and see them as destructive threats to the very foundations of human society. Both argue over ideas of identity, purpose and social favoritism and in the chaos embrace division, and even callous destruction through similar acts of intentional recklessness. Acts often much more reckless than any actions I did on my motorcycle.
Apart from my fascination with speed, I was highly thought of. As an athlete I received special awards and lettered in two sports. I graduated with Honors and volunteered in the community. Many would have said, "There was no harm," in my actions, because there were no accidents and, "His good deeds probably outweigh his bad."
But I knew the truth.
Regardless of whether you hold Traditional Values or are devoted to more Progressive Points of View. The problem of, "Idolatry, as displayed in our over-devotion to our own, "Self-Will," is our most pervasive and crippling problem today!
And a True Spiritual Awakening is the only thing that can bring true and lasting change. Both in our personal lives and in our lives together as a nation.
Are you willing to look OUTSIDE of yourself and consider HIM? Are you willing to consider the option of, “True Change?”
The links below describe how this can happen.
https://www.seekinghigherbeing.org/2023/09/gift-discovery-better-than-free-new-car.html
https://www.seekinghigherbeing.org/2019/12/are-you-drowning.html
