Often, while I’m bobbing a ways out from shore waiting for the next good set, I look in and see someone jogging by. They might be up on the road, or on the sidewalk. Sometimes they are even on the beach. They could be running north or maybe south.

There they go, pounding along the pavement or the sand, sweating and dripping and smelly. Most of the time they have these dreadful expressions of pain and agony on their faces. Their joints are taking a beating. Let’s face it, a jogger can be the very picture of misery.

Now, here is what I just don’t get: they are so close to the water! There they are, moving in parallel with the waves. A mere stone’s throw from the certainty of the sheer joy, the pure satisfaction and bliss of riding a wave!

Are they completely blind? How could they come so close and yet miss completely what I revel in day by day? This is surely one of the great mysteries of the universe! And from where I sit, it is a very sad thing indeed.

By the same token, I often wonder how anyone can live in a fabulous universe, beautifully hand-crafted by Jesus Christ, and blindly slog along day by day, completely missing the joy of life in God’s presence.