Dawn Patrol

Getting up earlier than I get up for work. Not getting enough breakfast. Not getting enough coffee. Yet, somehow, it still feels like I won.

The dawn patrol is an ancient surfing phenomena where a person will get up way too early in an effort to catch the first wave of the day, with the rising sun. This practice usually results in being damp, smelly, and exhausted for the rest of the day. Also, probably late for work. Strangely enough, though I was late, no one seemed to notice. I don't know if that should bother me or not.

Going on a dawn patrol is part of what makes a surfer. There are many people that surf. Then there are surfers. It isn't about being first or catching the first wave or anything like that. It is more about being present. Surfing early in the morning is like a secret that is shared between you and the waves. While the world is still sleeping, you are surfing.

In the Christian life meditation and the moments of contemplation that come from it are the dawn patrol of the spiritual life. Meditation is waiting on the wave and contemplation is surfing. Mediation is first of all a self-denial; it the denial of the all-important "time" in the Western world. Even worse than wasting time, from an American view meditation commits the ultimate sin; being unproductive. Even more, meditation, if it leads to contemplation, creates a sense of the coming sunrise. It tells us that this is only the very beginning of new day.

I said that surfing in the morning is like a secret shared between you and the waves. Contemplation is a secret shared between you and God. The secret is (are you ready): Here I AM. Was that disappointing? I don't think so. In fact I think the opposite. The secret is that it's not a secret, anymore than it's a secret that there are waves in the morning. So why a secret? Again, like the waves, you have to be present. Everybody knows the waves are there, but they are asleep. If not asleep; busy. We are too busy, too distracted, too productive. We are too busy planning our future that we aren't here for the present. The secret that the Father whispers to His children is only a secret because we aren't listening. We don't have time to listen. No, we won't make time to listen.   

Though the culture may see you as wasting your time, being unproductive, and uselessly denying yourself; you know it's worth it. You know it's worth it because you share the secret; even if only for a moment. No matter what the world thinks, in the end, you know that while they were sleeping you were surfing.