Surfing Lessons - #1

I got dropped-in on today. Big time. The surf was pumping. It was sunny and the wind was offshore - perfect. The waves were well overhead and super clean. Pretty much what you picture as a surfer when you close your eyes and think of fall. And it seems that all of the greater Portland metropolitan area was as stoked to be in the water as were Camille and I.

What does 'got dropped in on' mean, you're thinking? Well, it's a surfing term for when one person is already up and catching or riding a wave and another person paddles into the wave rignt in front of them. Although usually not intentional, it is quite a breach in etiquette and can be very dangerous. Not 'dropping in' on another surfer is part of Surfing 101. Probably more fights have been started over 'dropping in' than over anything else in the water. A surfer coming full speed at someone who is just dropping into a wave has the potential to severly injure both the other surfer and him/herself. Furthermore, even if a collision does not ensue, boards and leashes can get tangled and both surfers can become an entwined mass of humanity being tossed around in the whitewater like ragdolls. Surfboards can get broken and egos bruised (not to mention the potential for drowning). Looking before you paddle into a wave is just a hard and fast surfing rule.

So there I was, on a particularly tasty left-hander. I was just setting up for a killer backside snap off the lip when a Portlander paddled in right in front of me without looking. Now, dropping in on someone is bad enough, but dropping in on a local when you are a non-local basically violates several key laws that keep the time-space continuum in balance. It's sort of like Larry the Cable Guy singing the National Anthem in a bikini - there's just certain things that the Universe will not tolerate. But a funny thing happened next...

As I saw that this dude was about to snake me I instantly thought, of all things, about...my blog!

Did I mention that it was a beautiful day and that the waves were great? Maybe it was the whole scene of surfing bliss, maybe it was something in my pre-surf coffee...or maybe (this is what I am hoping), maybe I am actually starting to learn something from this abstract process of airing out my brain to the world. Seriously, I watched this guy drop in right in front of me and my first thought was, "If I get mad right now, I will be a total hypocrite and have to delete my entire blog entry from yesterday." So, instead of yelling and letting him know that I was about to perform a docking procedure with his backside, I just stalled a little and settled into the pocket of the wave.

Two things happened right away. First, the wave started to mush out a little and it just so happened that where I was standing, right in the pocket in front of the whitewater, became the only real place that you could be and still continue on down the line for the rest of the wave. Second, the he looked back and realized, for the first time, that he had just dropped-in on me. With a look of surprise on his face, he gave his board a couple of pumps, got some speed and kicked-out over the back side of the wave and out of my way. I stayed in the pocket and got two or three more good turns out of the wave. All-in-all, a pretty good wave!

As I kicked out of the wave, before I even started to paddle back out, I could see him waving at me and gesturing that he was sorry. I guess he has surfed with me several times and he knows that I am a local surfer out here. As I paddled closer to him, he was all apologies. He was probably expecting to get cussed at or told to go back to Portland. But you see, what he didn't realize was that, not only do I generally not make a habit out of cussing at people, but that what was really on my mind at that moment was the subject of yesterday's blog entry: love. Love doesn't hold other people's mistakes against them. Love isn't upset that someone may have ruined it's wave. Love knows that there will always be more waves. Love has learned that in light of Eternity, missing one wave (that I didn't even miss - remember?) is a small price to pay for making someone else's day.

I think he was pretty surprised when I paddled up to him and with a big smile, said simply, "No worries, bro. It's way too nice of a day to get amped-up about much of anything, wouldn't you say?"

I could almost physically feel the relief sweep over him! He looked back at me with a big smile and said, "Dude, I think I did the same exact thing to you the last time I was out here. Sorry, man!"

I told him that it was all good and we chatted for a bit about the great weather and fun waves. I paddled off after that to catch another wave and both of us had our level of stoke go through the roof.

What does all of this have to do with God, astrophysics and the Universe in general? Well, as I mentioned in my profile, God seems to be using my favorite passtime to teach me lessons about the Universe. I've stated before that I firmly believe that our Creator has set the Universe in order according to both physical and spiritual laws. Today's lesson is a continuation of what seems to be becoming a common theme in the Universe Creator's lesson plan for myself and some of those who are closest to me. Just as there are undisputible physical laws such as Newton's Third Law of Motion, there are also spiritual laws that hold the Universe in equal sway. The greatest of all of these laws, my friends, is Love. I think that what I am beginning to learn is that love is the glue that God uses to hold this entire dynamic, living, chaotic, expanding, endless, beautiful Universe together. All of the other laws, both physical and spiritual, stand at attention and salute to their great General - Love.

1 Corinthians chapter 13 tells us that without love, nothing else we do matters. It says that everthing else will fade away, but love will endure forever. It compares love to some of the other great laws of the Universe, such as faith and hope, but says the love is the greatest. You see, without love, there is no 'rest of the Universe'. Love is what holds it all together. Without love, it all comes apart and can't possibly make any sense. Our Creator used love to weave the Universe together. Love is the first great Universal Law.

And I learned this, in part, by having someone accidentally drop-in on me on a sunny day in Seaside, Oregon.