Last night after Mass, Christopher and I went to the beach down the road from the church, kind of on a whim (obviously, since we were both wearing dress clothes). Ours was the only car in the parking lot and the boardwalk was totally dark, which made me a little nervous, but since I wasn't alone, I kept going. Once we got on the beach, though, the darkness and the nerves didn't matter--it was so beautiful. The tide was really low, so the beach was huge and the only real lights we could see, other than the ships and the lighthouse behind us, were the stars.
Being that it is November, the water was a little cold, but we waded anyway and walked along the beach through the water. We talked about Latin Mass and Scripture and Mary, as well as discussing the depth of the tide pool we waded through and what the tiny glowing things in the water were.
At one point, while I was standing calf-deep in the ocean, looking out to the barely discernible horizon and not saying anything, an incredible sense of gratefulness settled in my soul, washing in gently like the waves I was standing in. I realized that ever since I graduated high school, I've been a rather intellectually lazy Catholic, which is shameful--I haven't really explored the beauties and mysteries of my Faith as an adult. But our young adult group, and specifically Christopher, who is studying to come into the Church at Easter, have pulled me out of that laziness because it has become the norm, once again, to discuss matters of faith, to read articles and books about things that pertain to Catholicism and share them with a larger audience. And I had forgotten how much I need my faith life to be intellectual.
So tonight I am thankful for that gift of intellectual, devout friends, for the reintroduction of study and inquiry into my faith as an adult, and for the awesome beauty of creation
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