Long Walks On Leafy Streets

7/21/2014 Near Skyline drive, Shenandoah Mountains, VA
Today I have been feeling a little tired and weak, in mind, body and spirit. We just returned last night from a weekend trip to Rehoboth Beach, DE. It could be simply the result of too much activity over the past week. It could also be the unending stream of sad news. While at Rehoboth Beach we got news that one of our dear friends, colleague and inspiration Prof. Duraiswamy Sundararaman passed away. He had retired from our department just a few years ago and he was a great influence and benefactor for everyone around him, in the department and the wider community. Personally he meant a lot to me. Meanwhile wars rage on in the Middle East and Ukraine. Climate change, poverty and injustice continue to ravage this beautiful earth and its most vulnerable inhabitants. All of this is heartbreaking and causes deep despair to anyone who cares.
What makes all of this even worse is that most of it is of our own making, the result of our greed, anger, fear and ignorance. People are exploiting the weak and plundering the earth in the name of development. They are committing atrocities in the name of religion. Here in the United States there are people who claim to be Christians but say and do all sorts of hateful things. In my moment of anger and grief I wanted to post on Facebook the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus talks about loving even your enemies. And then I read it and the words almost brought tears to my eyes. “Blessed are the poor…the meek…the merciful…the peacemakers… Ye are the light of the world…let your light so shine before men, that they shall see your good works.” I felt a calmness descending on me and my anger receded and the grief turned to peacefulness. I decided to not post it on Facebook because my intention had been born of anger and grief.
Lately I had been thinking about what I had been doing so far in my life, and what I wanted to do differently. I have been feeling a growing frustration and restlessness about all the problems I mentioned above and wanted to do what I can instead of just feeling hopeless and despondent. I have been granted sabbatical leave next year and wanted to take this time not only to redouble my research efforts but also to refocus on my volunteering activities especially those relating to the environment. I wanted to see where I had been lacking and what I should focus on. While we were on the bus to Rehoboth Beach I started thinking more about it. Talking to Nicole about it also helped me to clear my mind. The problems seem daunting and our own capacities very limited. Yet when you realize that God is within each one of us and that we are all connected nothing seems impossible. As Jesus says, you have to let your inner light shine.
We had a very good time in Rehoboth Beach. We decided to take the bus and stay in a hotel instead of driving 240 miles and camping in one of the state parks. I am not sure which is better for the environment though. Maybe next year we will be able to take the bus and go camping as well. The difficult part will be taking the camping equipment on the bus. I enjoyed the rural scenery and passing through small towns. America may look the same outside but there is a story behind everything – the story of how an immigrant family and their descendants integrated into this society, melting into the scenery but contributing their own colors to it.
We enjoyed doing all the things people usually do on the beach. Sitting and watching the waves, playing in them, walking on the boardwalk…It was a little cool for a July weekend but we enjoyed it all the same. I woke up in time to look for the sun early on Sunday morning but it was too cloudy. Sunrise on a beach is one of the most wonderful things in life. You feel literally like life is beginning anew.
Going to the beach is something I do every year. I cannot imagine my life if I were never able to walk on a beach. Running on the beach on Saturday morning I wondered if it would be there in another fifty years. Delaware seashore is one of the most vulnerable to destruction due to the rise in sea levels caused by climate change. But I comforted myself by thinking that people would find a way to preserve it, one way or the other. Human beings need beaches, to play by the waves and marvel at the ocean.

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