Sitting on the dock of the bay

It’s a place of peace. The water still and unrippled. The hours I have sat on this dock and thought, prayed and read. One can only imagine what lies beneath the beautiful blue water. I can’t walk on water like Jesus, I must sit on the dock. I can see the fish swimming under the water and watch a very large bass. She is waiting to lay her eggs. She seems undaunted by the world that is above the water. The other fish just enjoy their circumstances, not aware of the danger of my hook and worm although I only catch and release. I wonder, on the dock, who have walked on the wood that I am walking upon. I see the scars on the wood, the worn spots and the chips. Life does that to us. Whether we are wood, or human, we bear the marks of the world that is around us and happening to us. The dock keeps me from getting wet. Some days getting wet is preferred. The dock keeps me within a boundary. We need boundaries in life. We need things that keep us where we need to be. I don’t need to be in the water: I need to be on the dock. When I am content to be where I need to be, I can enjoy and be blessed by the beauty around me. When I put myself outside the boundaries I will get wet, be uncomfortable and I miss seeing the things that give me joy, peace and pleasure. But I must be content to sit on the dock and not worry about what I am missing under the dock in the water. There is beauty in both places, but I need to appreciate where I am and where God has placed me. Sitting on the dock of the bay: what a beautiful place to be.