“The cure for anything is salt water ..."

Since I’ve been house sitting Susan & Joel’s Newport Beach home (‘The Loveshack’) I had the unusual task of ‘commuting’ this morning back to Seal Beach – in the drowning rain, on slick streets packed with petrified fair-weather California drivers. Punching through the radio buttons annoyingly, I clicked on one station just as the deejay was speaking the words of Psalm 103:12, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west ... Throwing our sins into the depths of the sea!” he added, paraphrasing Micah 7:19.

Wow! What a welcome reminder. I've been weighed down by this bad guy rap, and GLADLY I will say: it doesn’t fit. It doesn’t look good or feel good, and it is high time I shed that encumbering cloak once and for all. I don’t want it, nor the self-effacing, self-fulfilling prophecy it carries in its pockets. It is not who I am nor who I want to be.

“And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”Hebrews 8:12. How awesome that we have a ‘forgive and forget’ God! But of course, this is God speaking. If only we mere mortals were as ... God-like (there’s really no other definition – it is so contrary to human nature). We cling to hurt and painful memories; afraid to forgive, loathe to forget. Hunched over in shame, we carry our guilt like heavy boulders taped to our backs. How sad.

I was reminded today that God’s greatness is bigger than our screw ups. GOD'S GREATNESS IS BIGGER THAN OUR SCREW UPS!! Every time. There is hope. “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” says Psalm 34:18. I continue to pray this blessing on my friend.

Incredibly, God has chosen to send me on an all-expense paid vacation to La Paz, Mexico. (Well okay, I’ll be working plenty ... but still – it’s not Alcatraz.) While I'm more used to getting the 2 X 4 to the temple, or drop kicked to the end zone, this is an incredible blessing! I will be sailing with a really lovely couple, on a comfy boat with furniture and a galley and a portable hot tub; we will be traveling south to WARMER climes, on the ocean ... which heals me.

“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea” wrote Isak Dinesen (aka Karen Blixen). I am eager now to give the sea its turn.

ADDENDUM: DEFINITION OF AMNESTY

I am reminded of the definition of ‘amnesty’ – stemming from the Latin term amnēstia: ‘forgetting’. It means to overlook, or forget (a transgression); can also be used to define the period of time during which offenders can admit a crime without fear of prosecution; or, finally – refers to the actual act of liberating someone. Liberating. The term 'amnesty' evokes leniency, mercy, and compassion ...