Spiritual director and contemplative Kelly Chripczuk discuses tides as an image of contemplative surrender during this Eastertide.
I’ve not lived close enough to a large body of water to know much about tides, but something feels right about this pairing. An incoming tide lifts everything in its path, washes the beach clear of debris. A receding tide leaves behind treasures of the deep on beaches and tidal pools, revealing what was hidden but present all along.
The image of tiding – of being carried along with the movement of the tide – is a welcome one for me in this season of resurrection. Perhaps I might allow myself to be carried along in the process of resurrection, to have the shores of my life washed clean, to scour the tidal pools and beaches for treasures heretofore hidden.
I find hope in the recognition that resurrection takes time. In this hope, I find the invitation to surrender and be present to Easter’s slow unfolding. What seems still dead today may awaken anew tomorrow. That which I thought might never return – like the slow, sleeping Hostas in their shady beds - may be just waiting for the fullness of this season, to make its presence known.
How are you tiding in this Easter season? In what corners and forgotten places are you looking for or celebrating new life?