We visited Tofino over the weekend. It was a long-awaited vacation that I had strategically schedule at the end of the month, right after the C&C committee transfer and before the summer ended. I had heard that it was a very beautiful place but wasn't sure what to expect, half anticipating the area to be over-rated, not wanting to be disappointed by high expectations. It turns out that Tofino was not what I had expected. It was much, much more. It wasn't just beautiful, it was a soul-captivating place, and at the end of 4 days I didn't want to leave.
We took a walk on the beach after the 6 hours it took us to get to our destination. On the winding path through the mountains and valleys between Nanaimo and Tofino we experienced some crazy weather, changing from rainstorms to sunshine within minutes. It felt like we were driving deeper and deeper into nature, further and further away from the city, to a brand new place that we've never been, and I was excited. The weather in Tofino was clear blue skies and sun smiling upon us as we arrived. People were relaxing on the beach, which was covered with fine, warm sand having been baked by the sun. Streams had formed on the beach and were now flowing back into the ocean, dividing the sand into different areas. The waves made their marks on the beach, and you could see miles and miles of ripple marks on the sand. There were dogs running wild and free, playing in the water..... I felt relaxed already.
The second day we took a 'hike' on the Rainforest Trail. We wondered why a rainforest was categorized as a 'rainforest'. I guessed that it was due to the amount of rain a forest received and the number of different species that could be found in the forest (still need to confirm that!). We stopped by the read some of the signs that explained the different components of the forest and how life formed and functioned within this ecosystem. I was humbled to realize the complexity of it all and marveled at God's creation. Such diversity and intricacy, surely not all of this just came from a random big bang?
What captured my heart was when we made our way to Radar Hill, a hill where an old radar was installed during II World War, but also a place where a good view of Tofino - from the sound to the mountains to the ocean, could be seen. The third picture I have here shows the view from the top of the hill, and does not do it justice although it is not a bad picture). I've been captivated by nature's beauty before. Perhaps it has been too long since I've gotten 'in touch' with nature or perhaps I have been too tired and stressed over the past while, I just stopped and stared and exclaimed. The more beauty I saw in nature, the more I wondered by human beings (not all, but many) looked for fulfillment in material things? (Perhaps I am talking about myself...). God has made such wonders all around us, and it's all for free! P, being the kind and thoughtful man that he is, asked if I wanted to sit for a while. So we sat... staring at the spectacular view in front of us... while my head entered a state of what I told P was "euphoria". Others came and we decided to share the view with them, so we hopped off the rock and headed for our car... till next time.
The next day we took a surfing lesson. Kind P, with shoulder problems and not really knowing how to swim, still courageously signed up for lessons with me. I suspected it's because he noticed that I had been talking about it and wanted me to do what I wanted to do. I appreciate his thoughtfulness, which he never brings to my, or anybody else's attention. The first few times I plunged into the cold, salty water with waves coming at me, eyes closed and not knowing where my surf board was, I felt fear. Although I could step on the sand bottom the whole time, I didn't like the cold water splashing on my face and didn't like being not in an upright position when I fell into the water. I stood in the water looking out at the ocean. We could hear the roaring ocean from our room in the charming B&B located right across the street. The waves came rolling towards the beach and I couldn't help but feel so small. We are so tiny compared to the big wide ocean. The night before we had gone to a restaurant, where I noticed three women, likely close girlfriends, chatting away at the table next us. They were talking, laughing, no doubt sharing their experiences and their thoughts/feelings/emotions with each other, and I thought, "Amazing.... there are so many billions of people on earth and each have been made with such complexity. How many experiences, emotions, thoughts, memories, do we each carry?" And us being so small in a world where this kind of ocean exists? Where a wave can just come and knock you down and the undertow can pull you away just like that. I am in awe of the creator God who is big enough to make the mountains and the oceans, but also infinitely brilliant to create all the tiny little details in each of us, in each place of this earth, of this universe. So there in my wet suit, hanging onto my board, heart racing and breathing heavily, I thought about my fear and all men's fear of death. I feared because I feared that I could, worse case scenario, lose my life. So therefore I am in fear of death. What am I to do when I am nearing death, which is inevitable. What is a man's life in a world as big as this one? It must mean something, a great deal in fact, because we are so damn complicated.
While I lied in bed, the sound of the roaring ocean like music to my ears, traveled from the massive Pacific to my relatively minuscule (even smaller than that!) bedroom, I thought about all the things that I wish I was but I am not - beautiful, in the right frame of mind about things. I felt frustrated that I have had to go through what I've had to go through and that it makes me a broken piece of something, like driftwood... I still needed to know God's love and His wanting to redeem us from where we're at. While in the ocean trying so hard to stand up on my surf board but failing miserably because I kept thinking about all the things I needed to do right but out of fear kept gripping onto my surf board because I wanted to be in control. Then a voice in my head said "Just let go, you're trying too hard to do all the right things." I had an epitome then, perhaps I was never to be 'right', perhaps it was time let go of myself into God's hands and just let Him love me for who I am, what I've become. Despite of the many negatives, there have been many more positives in my life, and from all of them I am shaped and formed into me. I feel that all that, is God's redeeming hands lovingly at work in my life... I relaxed a little bit when the next wave came, and stood up on my surf board...
To be close to nature is to be close to God. From being in the forest and near the ocean I have experienced God's awesomeness. This Psalm (8) comes to mind,
Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
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