The sand along the beach was soft and cool, just the right kind of beach for long walks. We did a little dance as the incoming waves would suddenly be chasing us across the sand and we made a dash higher to keep dry shoes! It was delightful play with the sea on the Pacific Rim beaches. Sometimes it was just my husband and I or perhaps my step daughter and son-in-law along with us. The imprint of our soles was left after each step, with various depths depending on how much water the sand held at the moment and how firm it was. And then of course, a large wave would come and wash over them, refilling the imprint with sand. If someone didn’t see us, but looked across the beach, would they know we had been there? When the beach became more rocky there was no visible prints from our feet at all.
I thought again about the subject of ‘ invisibility’ that so many of us have experienced somewhere in our life journey. That feeling or sense that no one can see who you are today, in this moment, is deeply painful at every level of your being. Your real spirit and soul is invisible to those around you. Yet we are still there, our imprint is being made, and we have left behind something of our essence as we move through this moment, this space of life! Just like the beach, we have surely been there. So how do I keep this truth, this reality, and not discount what is unseen, or how I may have felt unseen?
As I looked back over my shoulder and watched the water wash away my foot prints there was an exhilaration within that even though the imprint of my foot was no longer visible, I knew I had been there, I was there, and how each step felt so good, so real and true. This was me, alive, vibrant, full of life and walking with those I loved. That cannot be taken from me as I write this and time has passed. With the sea shouting its presence, inhaling and exhaling in ceaseless rhythm upon the shore, I thought of how being present, holding within, in honour, all of who I am, is simple obedience. To live that out whether it is seen or unseen is not my call. To live out who I am is obedience to the Image of God within me and if I can be visible to myself, I can trust that my imprint has be placed in every step I take, every act of obedience to the Spirit within. The Giver of Life is the one doing the imprinting and even that is more invisible than visible to me. I must learn to trust Them more, but I feel it is that trust that had me turn my head, look behind and see no prints, and know it did not negate the truth of have placed my feet there and know my own unique imprint was in the sand, upon the beach, upon this earth.
In the rhythm on my own breathing, inhaling and exhaling, I am sitting with this piece of Light, and knowing that invisibility is less about darkness and more about the Light of Holy Presence and the reality of being visible to my own person with more dignity and honour. It is a deeper call to be obedient more fully to who I have been created to be because all of that is visible to the Almighty.
