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Oceans For Emotions: The stages of our life

  • By Elaine Wheat
  • Originally published August 17, 2012 at midnight, updated August 17, 2012 at midnight

"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope."

- Lamentations 3:21

I love it when I first drive up to the ocean at dawn's early light. The ocean looks as if God had been up all night sprinkling it with bling. Before I even start to fish, I like to sit on my sand chair that yesterday's high tide had left and just take it all in. I hate to even mess up God's water-colored masterpiece by casting a tacky old cork, weight and a beat-up lure into it and scarring the ocean's face that stares gleaming at me.

As I sat staring at it's pristine presence, I tried to remember the times when I had this same feeling. I pulled up the favorites on my computer of my mind and finally found it listed under "school starting."

Every educator and those students who are going to be, or already have been, educated, know this familiar feeling. School will be starting soon, and everyone is expecting new beginnings. The teachers have their bulletin boards decorated, chairs arranged, lesson plans and intentions firmly in their mind and are just as excited as the students.

Right now, everyone has a 100 average, perfect reputations, perfect attendance, no one has failed a test, the right attitudes, and the perfect horizon in front of them.

The elementary students fearlessly let go of their parents' hands even though there are tears shed ... I am talking about tears from the parents not the students. In middle school, the girls are sitting comfortably on one side of the room and the boys on the other. The kids who plan to cause trouble are sitting in the back of the room and the good kids that never have trouble are sitting in the front.

In about a week, the teacher will make up a seating chart and the students' fears and dreams will take on new dimensions. In high school, the freshmen and sophomores arrive early, so no one sees them getting out of their parents' cars and the juniors and seniors come late swinging their car keys around their fingers.

I feel qualified to prophesy these happenings having taught for more than half a century.

I am retired now and not having to go back to school should give me much pleasure, but it is breaking my heart. I will admit that I went up to a school this last week where I had once taught and counseled and walked down the gleaming halls, past the clean lockers that did not smell like tuna fish or bananas and spoke to many of the teachers that were once my students.

I left knowing that I no longer belonged there, and I loaded my car with fishing tackle. That's how and why I was sitting beside the sea watching God bling my bay.

Dear Lord, thank you for all of the stages in my life that we have been through together. Help us all choose to walk with you as you bless each stage of our lives.