I have spent a good deal of time by the seashore and been watching the pelicans. They come down gliding over the waves near the shore like fixed-wing airplanes in formation and then suddenly dive down in the shallow water hunting the little fish splashing around near the surface. If they are successful, you can see them gulp down a fish. Sometimes they seem to pause to rest, but only briefly, floating on the water and then, successful or not, flap their wings to take off and do it all again along the next stretch of beach. You can watch their routine over and over, resting only briefly between forming up for their next glider run over the waves near the shore.
While watching the pelicans in their usual work, I looked out over the deeper water to see a whale breach the surface and then come back down into the water with a great fountain of water splashing out from either side. A whale coming up out of the water just to show off is a fantastic sight! I had gotten caught up in watching the pelicans each day instead of looking to the deeper waters where you find the bigger things. This time of year the whales are engaged in their annual migration, but I suspect most of the tourists by the beach focus on the pelicans and the waves coming ashore and miss out on the whales.
I’ve been watching the deeper ocean more and the sight of the whales, though much rarer, is also much more intriguing than the activity of pelicans. I can’t help but think there is a spiritual lesson for us all in looking to the deep rather than being enthralled by repetitive activity in shallow water. I suppose it is a bit like last week’s gospel where Jesus tells Peter to put out into the deep to catch fish. John Henry Newman wrote once that God has some task for us such that our being where God wants is as necessary as the role of an Archangel. I would add that looking to the deep is how you find greater meaning in life.