Surfing & Faith

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SeekingThee

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Hi All,

I am new to the Faith and this forum. Great community! I hope this is the right place to post, as I relate my spirituality to surfing.

My personal passion is surfing. I always feel the presence and power of God when I am in the ocean. It reminds me of how small I am not only in this world but in the vast universe of His. It is very humbling.

I’ve always associated surfing as my spirituality before I was introduced to the Faith and before I knew God. Now, I am trying to join the passion I have for surfing with my new desire to personally learn and grow in the Faith.

Do you have any guidance or advice you may share with a newbie? Thank you!
 
I can relate to what you’re saying, although in a more sedate way. 😉 We love to go camping–just a little 5’x1-10’ travel trailer, nothing spectacular. And one of the things I enjoy the most is being on the road, watching the farm fields, trees, little streams and small towns go by. I especially love it when a field reveals an open sky so that all you can see is clouds meeting the fields. It’s something like being on the ocean as the hills wave up and down with the road. I see God’s grandeur in such scenes–in the very air flowing through the windows of our small truck. It puts me in mind of the Psalm that reads: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof…” King David was one who loved to contemplate the beauties of God’s creation and saw the loving hand of God in everything in nature. St. Francis of Assisi had the same sensibility, so you are in good company there. 😃 Let such moments feed your soul and spirit. Meditating on God’s creation while enjoying innocent recreation is most pleasing to him because it engenders a heart full of gratitude and redounds to his praise. 👍
 
Psalm 41:8 Here deep calls to deep in the roar of your torrents. All your waves and breakers sweep over me.
 
One of the greatest of modern catholic philosophers, Peter Kreeft, wrote a book in the last few years entitled “I Surf, Therefore I Am: A Philosophy of Surfing” Now I’m not a surfer but by all accounts it may be what you are looking for
 
Church_Militant said:
Psalm 41:8 Here deep calls to deep in the roar of your torrents. All your waves and breakers sweep over me.
Click to expand...
Ah, a regular St. Paul you are, becoming all things to all people. I love it. 😃

Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. (Matthew 14:28-29)

Seeking Thee… don’t try this at home. 😉

-Tim-
 
Hi Seekingthee

I have had some spiritual experiences related to surfing. I think God can use anything to teach us stuff.

Once myself and 2 other surfers brought in 3 kids caught in a rip current. By the time I got in, I was really sucking some wind because I paddled through the rip, and he kid was keeping the board from planing. I was afraid to go to either side because the waves were bigger and I thought I could lose the kid if one broke on us. Well we made it in o.k., (I had the kid help paddle). When I left the water, I had this revelation like some sort of telepathy that said something like: “You could be in better shape.” But the message seemed to be relating to “spiritual shape”. It seemed to say that if I am weak spiritually, then others could suffer like I could have lost the kid.

So today, after some time with the Rosary, I am off to the pool to swim some more laps!

(Especially since tropical storm Bret is on the way!)
 
Lol, I thought this thread was about surfing on the internet and faith:D

I don’t know how to surf but I’ve been a competitive swimmer since the early 90s and I feel that swimming also gives me the feeling you describe. I’m also a cyclist and have that feeling while on the bike too, especially when I cycle through nature.🙂
 
Are you familiar with Father Donald Calloway, the surfing priest?

Google him? I think there’s info on youtube as well.

Blessings
 
Another thing I learned from surfing is to “study the ocean” before going in.

There are many situations in life, that you don’t want to put your self into and your best opportunity to avoid a bad problems is to not go. This week, there was an article in a local paper about a girl who was paralyzed at a bachelorette party.

Also, I have always wondered if sometimes we can get a “warning from God” if a situation carries a bad risk that we can avoid if we heed the warning. I started wondering about this after reading about a big wave surfer that drowned in Hawaii in 1997 named Todd Chesser.

The article said that Todd and his friends were getting ready to paddle out, and a government worker stopped his car and warned them not to go out because of a report of changing conditions that day. I don’t know about Hawaii, in most places no one tells surfers not to go out and this sort of “warning” is rare.

You never know what you avoided in life unless you don’t get on an airplane that later crashes. However, once I had such a warning of danger that I fortunately heeded.

The kid across the street was learning to surf and we would chat a lot when I would walk the dog or work outside. One year, his family was going to the West coast of Maui, so he came over to tell me. Hawaii is a funny place with many areas unsafe for beginners because of big waves or unfriendly locals. Surfers often tell each other about “favorite spots” and I had surfed a mellow break on the West coast of Maui called S-turns where the waves are usually small and the locals are friendly.

I had this ominous feeling to not say anything to the kid and let him find his own spot with his family.

The exact week this kid was in Maui, a surfer was killed by a tiger shark at S-turns.

Thus, I think we can get warnings and it is up to us to listen. You cannot live in fear and I have also had feelings that I interpreted as “charge it”. Thus, I wonder if we can improve our ability to hear any warnings that might come?
 
Della said:
I can relate to what you’re saying, although in a more sedate way. 😉 We love to go camping–just a little 5’x1-10’ travel trailer, nothing spectacular. And one of the things I enjoy the most is being on the road, watching the farm fields, trees, little streams and small towns go by. I especially love it when a field reveals an open sky so that all you can see is clouds meeting the fields. It’s something like being on the ocean as the hills wave up and down with the road. I see God’s grandeur in such scenes–in the very air flowing through the windows of our small truck. It puts me in mind of the Psalm that reads: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof…” King David was one who loved to contemplate the beauties of God’s creation and saw the loving hand of God in everything in nature. St. Francis of Assisi had the same sensibility, so you are in good company there. 😃 Let such moments feed your soul and spirit. Meditating on God’s creation while enjoying innocent recreation is most pleasing to him because it engenders a heart full of gratitude and redounds to his praise. 👍
Click to expand...
Thank you for the excellent insight! And thanks for helping me relate more on terms of enjoying an innocent recreation with a heart full of gratitude.
 
Theophorus said:
One of the greatest of modern catholic philosophers, Peter Kreeft, wrote a book in the last few years entitled “I Surf, Therefore I Am: A Philosophy of Surfing” Now I’m not a surfer but by all accounts it may be what you are looking for
Click to expand...
Thanks. I did read Peter kreeft’s book. It was great to read about surfing in that spiritual sense.
 
TimothyH said:
Ah, a regular St. Paul you are, becoming all things to all people. I love it. 😃

Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. (Matthew 14:28-29)

Seeking Thee… don’t try this at home. 😉

-Tim-
Click to expand...
Haha. I could try, but I wouldn’t get very far… Unless the water was frozen 🙂
 
SeekingThee said:
Hi All,

I am new to the Faith and this forum. Great community! I hope this is the right place to post, as I relate my spirituality to surfing.

My personal passion is surfing. I always feel the presence and power of God when I am in the ocean. It reminds me of how small I am not only in this world but in the vast universe of His. It is very humbling.

I’ve always associated surfing as my spirituality before I was introduced to the Faith and before I knew God. Now, I am trying to join the passion I have for surfing with my new desire to personally learn and grow in the Faith.

Do you have any guidance or advice you may share with a newbie? Thank you!
Click to expand...
No, sorry, surfing’s not particularly spiritual. Skiing is, tho! 🙂
 
dedo said:
Hi Seekingthee

I have had some spiritual experiences related to surfing. I think God can use anything to teach us stuff.

Once myself and 2 other surfers brought in 3 kids caught in a rip current. By the time I got in, I was really sucking some wind because I paddled through the rip, and he kid was keeping the board from planing. I was afraid to go to either side because the waves were bigger and I thought I could lose the kid if one broke on us. Well we made it in o.k., (I had the kid help paddle). When I left the water, I had this revelation like some sort of telepathy that said something like: “You could be in better shape.” But the message seemed to be relating to “spiritual shape”. It seemed to say that if I am weak spiritually, then others could suffer like I could have lost the kid.

So today, after some time with the Rosary, I am off to the pool to swim some more laps!

(Especially since tropical storm Bret is on the way!)
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing. That’s a great heroic story. We can all be in better shape, and Better spiritual shape is huge! Have fun on those waves and stay safe!
 
marlap2 said:
Are you familiar with Father Donald Calloway, the surfing priest?

Google him? I think there’s info on youtube as well.

Blessings
Click to expand...
I am not familiar but thanks for informing me! I just ordered his book and look forward to reading it!
 
dedo said:
Another thing I learned from surfing is to “study the ocean” before going in.

There are many situations in life, that you don’t want to put your self into and your best opportunity to avoid a bad problems is to not go. This week, there was an article in a local paper about a girl who was paralyzed at a bachelorette party.

Also, I have always wondered if sometimes we can get a “warning from God” if a situation carries a bad risk that we can avoid if we heed the warning. I started wondering about this after reading about a big wave surfer that drowned in Hawaii in 1997 named Todd Chesser.

The article said that Todd and his friends were getting ready to paddle out, and a government worker stopped his car and warned them not to go out because of a report of changing conditions that day. I don’t know about Hawaii, in most places no one tells surfers not to go out and this sort of “warning” is rare.

You never know what you avoided in life unless you don’t get on an airplane that later crashes. However, once I had such a warning of danger that I fortunately heeded.

The kid across the street was learning to surf and we would chat a lot when I would walk the dog or work outside. One year, his family was going to the West coast of Maui, so he came over to tell me. Hawaii is a funny place with many areas unsafe for beginners because of big waves or unfriendly locals. Surfers often tell each other about “favorite spots” and I had surfed a mellow break on the West coast of Maui called S-turns where the waves are usually small and the locals are friendly.

I had this ominous feeling to not say anything to the kid and let him find his own spot with his family.

The exact week this kid was in Maui, a surfer was killed by a tiger shark at S-turns.

Thus, I think we can get warnings and it is up to us to listen. You cannot live in fear and I have also had feelings that I interpreted as “charge it”. Thus, I wonder if we can improve our ability to hear any warnings that might come?
Click to expand...
Thank you sharing. I totally agree with you in Improving our ability to listen and interpret warnings. I definitely study the ocean days before entering and I also pray in my head as I enter the water. But you’re right, only in hindsight do we realize signs that we did or didn’t miss.
 
I just googled “spiritual surfing” and Amazon has a list of books on this.

Some of them look interesting.

Another thing I get from surfing is that when I am up close to nature I get the feeling that God is an artist, and nature / creation is His art.

Although I don’t have any artistic talent like painting or singing, I am thinking that whenever we serve others then we are participating in God’s art.
 
Hi,
I saw your post and last night I had watched “Soul Surfer” which is a movie about Brenda Hamilton. I think she has books about God and surfing. She’s not Catholic but I really admire her faith in Jesus especially in how she has used her circumstances to share about Jesus.
 
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