Today I’m entranced by the constant crash of waves on the shoreline. It moves my soul.

Rebekah and I talked about why I’m so attracted to the sea, and we decided it’s probably because I grew up in a coastal town. I don’t sail, I’m not a strong swimmer, and I don’t even have good sea-legs. But I do like to be close to the ocean; I like the sound of it, and the smell of salt air; I like the sense of connection where the great waters overlap the edges of the land.

It’s like watching time washing up against eternity. It’s like immortality interfacing with the everyday. It’s like one of those “thin places,” where the spiritual and the mundane are separated by the flimsiest of membranes; where God breaks into the human experience; where it is ever so easy to see clear beyond this world and into the next.

That’s probably enough to justify the new set of beach photographs, below. But first I’d like you to click on this link to my Wake Forest Today column – “More Love for North Carolina“. I share more about being here at the beach. Support the Wake Forest on-line news connection!

Here’s the lead:

As a newcomer to the Tar Heel State (having lived in Florida since 1976), I seem to be going through my first year here with my mouth hanging open, constantly exclaiming, “Would you take a look at that!”

First fall: “Spectacular!”

First hard freeze and big snow: “Unbelievable!”

First spring: “Oh. My. Goodness. This is so beautiful!”

And so it goes. I have the child’s eye of wonder, still, and I am oh so grateful not to have been contaminated too much yet by the cynicism that tends to creep into the adult experience.

This week my wonder is located on the Outer Banks… (read more…)

Now, here are the new photographs: