Deep and Wide

“Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide”…do you know this children’s song? I’m writing these words from the beach, staring out across the shimmering Gulf of Mexico. Some dolphins playfully surface for a moment, reminding me of the fun we’ve had this week engaging all of our senses as we experience the beach anew with our granddaughter. 

God’s playfulness delights us in many ways…the feel of the wet sand oozing out between our toes as the tide receded, the sandpipers chasing the water in and out along the shoreline, the dolphins’ game of peekaboo, the sight of a rising harvest moon in the east with a setting sun in the west, the steady, continuous sound of the waves moving towards us, the laughter of joy from dear ones who share this multisensory feast. Truly, my experience of God is wide, and as Lacy Borgo, author of Faith Like a Child says, these encounters with the Creator  “ignite our senses and sanctify our imaginations….these experiences are expansive and children are the experts.” (p.83) 

And yet as our vacation ends, I am aware of the rising tension surrounding our upcoming presidential election in a few weeks. We return to the needs of a family member whose health is rapidly declining, the impending grief of loss, the news of many suffering children in war torn countries. Sadly, as we age, we learn more of what God is not. At times we even experience what seems to be an absence of God. Borgo suggests such times can deepen our faith.“Where there is no sight, sound, touch, taste or smell of God’s presence, we find that God is there too, but in ways that are totally new to us”. (p.85) We are invited as we age to go deep and meet God in silence and solitude. Thus, we can learn to live freely in our love for God which grows both in depth and width throughout our lifetime.

As we move along our journey into the depths of Love may we let the children remind us of the wideness of Love. Deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.

With Wonder,

Cynthia