Another year, another set of musings from my beach chair. Forgive the typos. 

Sharks. Brain-eating amoebas. Lightning strikes.

All of these are reasons I’ve heard for not getting into the water in the days leading up to our annual pilgrimage to the ocean. You could seriously have all of the joy ripped out of you… before you ever touch a foot in the sand.

And this seems a little too much like real life and a little less like vacation.

I commented to my dad recently that if you were going to let all of the things you were supposed to be afraid of actually make you afraid, you should just never leave the house.

Foreign terrorist attacks. Homegrown violence based on race, class, or location. Global warming. Job loss from others outside of the country. Guns (or those who would take your guns). Viruses. Overexposure to the sun. Underexposure to the sun.

And then, Jesus shows up.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.– I John 4:18

Fear could keep you out of the water. Fear could keep you from relationships, from love, from growth, from community. Fear just gets in the way.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live like that.

I’m going for a swim.