Negative Tides

Negative tides are one of my favorite times to hit the beach. We ventured out on Saturday, along with half of Juneau, but luckily it was a really big beach. A negative tide reveals critters you don't get to see any other time. Sometimes they are beautiful and sometimes they are on the gross and slimy side. I was a little too amused by the screaming of children at the beach as they discovered squirming sculpins and squishy sea cucumbers. 

I feel like we are in a negative tide. The water has been pulled back and we are revealed without our normal defenses and distractions. It's laying bare some beautiful and grotesque stuff about ourselves. 

I'm not opposed to such revelations. I think we are at or healthiest when we are most aware of the places in our lives that are still in bondage and not yet redeemed and we are at our most dangerous when we put ourselves in the good category and imagine the world would be dandy if we could just get rid of the bad. 

There's a reason we start most worships with a confession, "I am in bondage to sin and cannot free myself, I have sinned in thought, word and deed by what I have done and by what I have left undone." We begin with a negative tide, revealed, without excuses looking at what we normally hide in shame. 

It can be beautiful and grotesque, but I find myself marveling at my own being as much as I do as the critters clinging to exposed rocks.  Hmm. That's me with some destructive patterns and thoughts; that's me with some creativity and grace. I observe, wonder, and hopefully cut others a little more slack when their negative tide reveals something new.