There was a man, sitting in the sand, at the ocean. He had driven all night to get there. It was now early morning. So early, that it was still dark and there was absolutely no one else on the beach. He had planned it that way. The last few days had not been kind to the man, and he had come to the ocean to take exception with it, or with the entity in charge.
He sat there gathering his thoughts. He was having trouble controlling his emotions because he was battling with anger, remorse, and lost hope. You see, two days ago he had lost a good friend. It was very sudden. One of those, one second he was alive, the next he was gone, type things. All the man could see through his tear-swollen eyes was his loss. The morning tide was slowly rising towards him and lightly lapping at his toes, and it felt like someone was tickling them with a feather.
The man stood up and started to walk towards the ocean, but he did not stop when the water came up to his ankles. He continued walking into the sea until the water was up to his waist. The water felt unseasonably warm as it floated around him. As he looked down at his pants, he noticed, that they had puffed out to let the water come inside and fill up the legs.
He raised his hand, and as hard as he could, he smacked the water. A few moments later he slapped it again, and again. He hit the water several times and then shouted, “How could You take my friend? It was not his time yet. He was only 49 years old! He had a wife, and a daughter and everyone liked him. If he had any enemies, I didn’t know about them. He was a friend to everyone at work. There was no one like him, and there will never be anyone to replace him. How could You allow this?” His voice echoed through the water and up into the dark sky. The water swirled around him as he continued to vent. “How is everyone going to recover from this? How can anyone go to work and just pretend everything is back to normal? You must have made a mistake! Fix it, right now, please!” His voice was passionate with a touch of pleading in it. “When You do things like this do You realize what You are doing? Do You have a sense of loss, the devastation You have caused? You just took him with no warning; no time to say thank you, no time to say how much he will be missed. He’s just gone. His friends don’t know where to turn or what to do, and neither do I.” His shouting was over. He was drained of all emotion. All sense of who he was had been tossed, emotionally, into the water, the wind, and the sky. He just stood there, his eyes and cheeks covered with tears of regret, sadness, and of loss. He was spent. He was done. It was time for him to leave the water.
However, God and the ocean had other plans. Before he could turn away, he felt as if his body was being pulled further into the sea. The man was strong enough to withstand the pull, but the water was not. He noticed there was a massive wave forming in front of him and he decided to wait for it to come. He braced himself for the impact, and as it started down towards him, he could have sworn that he heard a voice in the wave. “I am not punishing anyone.” The voice was deep and foreboding. “I saw all the good your friend was doing and wanted him to continue his work with me.” The wave washed over him wiping the tears from his eyes and face.
“But why him? Why now?” the man asked selfishly.
Another wave formed, and the voice spoke, “It was his time. You know that.” The wave covered the man once again.
“But none of us were ready to let go yet,” the man retorted.
“I was not ready to send him down when I did either, but I sent him. I now call him home.” Another wave washed over him again.
“Well, can I see him just one last time to say goodbye; to tell him everyone will watch over his wife and child?”
“No,” came the short, unemotional answer, followed by, “He knows that already.” The man grew silent. He had nothing more to say. Then the voice spoke again, “Your friend is not being punished. He has been rewarded by coming back to me. Hopefully, with time, and prayer, one day you will understand.”
Suddenly the largest of all the waves came crashing down around the man, and it felt like all his pain had been washed away into the ocean. He felt clean, refreshed, and ready to go back and face everyone. The man felt as if he had been reborn and saw a whole new world in front of him. He looked out at the horizon, then up to the sky, and said, “Thank you, Lord, for helping me understand.”
The man turned around and walked back up to the beach. He sat down on the sand once more and stared at the ocean. Only this time, there was no pain. There was no loss, just awe. He smiled and sat there for a while longer until he saw the early morning light on the horizon. Then, he stood up, went to his car, and started the drive back home.
