How Deep is the Ocean? 

   I often use the analogy of an ocean for faith in God.  Maybe because I’m a retired Navy Master Chief it seems appropriate to me.

   When thinking of an ocean there are many options.  I can stand on the shore and never even get wet, or I can choose to go into the water.  Once I step into the ocean I am again faced with many options.  I can simply splash about in the shallows, or I can dive in and swim.  I can make sure that I can always touch the bottom or trust my ability to swim and not be concerned if the water is over my head.

   To my knowledge there are still areas of the ocean where the bottom has yet to be found.  There are those who are not satisfied with that and seek to go deeper and deeper into the water looking for where it may end.  As they go deeper they often discover creatures never seen before, some of which appear almost alien.  The deeper they go the more they discover.

   My faith in God is, in some ways, similar.  I can be a regular Mass attendee and not much else or I can get involved in the various ministries of my parish.  I can study to learn more about my faith and help my understanding or I can just listen to the readings and the homily and let it go at that.  It’s up to me how my faith will grow and develop.

   How deeply I enter into my faith will determine how well I come to know God and His purpose for me.  If I cling to the safety of the shore my faith will never grow as it should.  With each step into the deeper waters of faith, I discover more about my Lord and grow closer to Him.  I don’t find strange new creatures, but I find a depth of love and faith that I would never have known if I just stayed in the “shallows” of faith.

   It doesn’t matter the depth I am willing to explore in the ocean, but it matters greatly how deep into my faith I am willing to explore.  I will never know all there is to know, many things are far beyond my understanding.  But the deeper I go, the greater my love and trust in God becomes.  I will go as deep as I possibly can, always confident that He will lead me home.