Personal Choice - Blog #1

Waking up at 4:30 in the morning three times a week is never a simple task. Half asleep, I have to force myself to get out of bed and get dressed. Every morning is the same, taking the long hike across campus in my groggy state just to get in a car and drive twenty minutes to where we practice. The darkness envelops the sky as we drive to our destination, the sun still asleep and me, wishing I was as well. This practice started out like any other, working together to carry our heavy boats from the boat house to the shimmering, still water. The weight on my shoulders sometimes unbearable. After coach assigns us our boats we lock our ores in place and hit the water. As I climb into the boat, steadying myself I soak in the cool, musky air. As we set off the sun is still hidden, the moon being the only light illuminating our path. We start to row, at first the pace is steady, slow, our ores skimming the water before diving in, pushing us forward. My breaths became deeper as we pushed harder and faster, my muscles losing strength the harder I pushed. We went in circles for a while, turning around to stay in between the two bridges that towered over the ends of the river. Eventually we ventured in between the farthest bridge from the dock, keeping a steady pace to refrain from hitting anything. A dim light peaked over the horizon and I longed for the suns light on my path. As we cleared the bridge a dense fog surrounded us, making it difficult for us to see the way we were going. As the fog grew thicker we decided that it was unsafe and we headed back to the dock. Before we made our return to the dock we sat for a moment in the fog. I watched as the sun rose slowly in the sky, I could make out the outline of a herring perched on a bare tree emerging from the water. The sun framed its outline with its bright orange color. The sight was breathtaking, the bird sitting their motionless. I wished I had something I could use to take a picture, instead I watched, transfixed, soaking it all in. In that moment I felt the vastness of God's creation, surrounding me. I felt a spiritual change in me as I could not look away from the beauty of nature right in front of me. I experience that same sunrise three days a week, every week, but it might never feel the same as it did that day, thats the beauty of a sacred experience.