Always on the Board

Which is your favorite beach? How many times have you surfed there?

Answering may seem easy, but if we think about Heraclitus, an ancient Greek, he would say, “One never surfs the same beach twice, for the beach changes and so does one’s self.” On the other hand, a different Greek, Parmenides, would say, “The wave is still the same and therefore, we can recognize our favorite beach.” 

Despite their differences, they both believed that somehow everything was tied in harmony to what they called "logos", even though they didn’t know very well what it was. 

What is clear is that we have changed. Remember when you were a kid? Or how your surfing has evolved over the years? Sometimes we can barely recognize ourselves!

Nowadays, people talk about differences, of being "agents of change" to stop climate change or address social injustices and improve everyone’s rights. We believe that things need to change for the better, even if we don’t know where exactly we are supposed to be headed.

Everything changes: society, climate, technology, ourselves, and our way of understanding things. It seems that in life the "good place" gets complicated, the tide pulls us away, the currents getting stronger, and we get that feeling that we are lost. 

What is it we are looking for when we feel that way in the ocean? A reference point. We turn to focus on a lighthouse, a rock, a dock, or whatever might help us set a course.

The Greeks lost sight that the logos (the Word) had existed forever. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the base of the universe that ties everything in harmony and gives it meaning.

The reference point you’re looking for is Jesus. He said, “I am the truth”. The truth is a person, not a bundle of concepts; when you unite with Him, you will find the truth and it will become your reference point.

Paraphrasing Isaiah: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone (surfboard), a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it (stands on said board) will never be stricken with panic (have wipeouts)” (Isaiah 28:16). 

Peter tells us to “…come to Him, the living Stone (surfboard) rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him” (1 Peter 2:4–8). Let us stand on that board and grow on top of that rock!

Sometimes we want everything to be set and safe, we want everything to stay stable, but it turns out that everything changes. Then, what is going to be your steady surfboard in the middle of that wave of change? I suggest you have a personal relationship with Jesus.

There are many ways to be and walk on that board. Even though everything around us is moving, we’ll be safe if we remain standing on that board, walking in Christ. If Paul were a surfer, he’d say it this way: "Leaving behind what’s left, I’ll project myself to what awaits ahead, in a perfect hang ten with Jesus!”