I had a dream.... I dreamed of the sea.... I dreamed that I was the sea... Unquiet night... Waves, surges, rockings, swells, abyssal streams, temperatures ranging from tepid Mediterranean to polar cold. I was the sea and the sea was me. I have dreamed about the sea many times, but I had never been the sea before. In my previous dreams the sea was infinitely huger than me. It was my unconsciousness. A mystery. And I was always something... a drifting raft, a small craft at leisure, a cork tossing to and fro, a shipwrecked. But yesterday, I mean, last night, I was the sea itself. In my dream I could not see others but me. I could not look at anything outside of me... I looked at myself with the eyes of the water.... and with the feelings of the sea itself. I could see myself...I was the sea! There were no excuses, no dangers, sharks or giant squids to fear. There were no threats living outside of me. There were no aliens or strange beings living outside of me. There were no storms to blame or tsunamis to hold accountable for the devastation. The seaquakes were born in me and had to die in me. I woke up calmly frightened, at the crack of dawn. I came to my computer and wrote a psalm to myself. It came out as Psalm 42 to my own soul. I posted it on the site. I went back to bed and fell asleep again. I dreamed of my soul. My soul was the sea. The same sea... the same old sea... the sea who once bore an inner blame – for so many things... but who couldn’t scare me anymore. The swells and the seaquakes, the smooth surges and the surfable waves, all of them came from me and I didn’t have to fear them any longer. The sea exists in the world, and my world is my spirit, and my spirit is in God. I got up from bed again. I came to my pc and wrote “In the Vortex of the Sea of Unconsciousness”, and I posted it on Devotionals, Articles, and Paul’s Mind. By the way, Paul has been my best human friend in this sea voyage. He knew what it was like to be shipwrecked. He knew what it was like to toss to and fro. He knew what it was like to miss the boat in order not to lose life. He was sure that there was an Island, a Malta to run aground on. A Malta to the feet. He said: “Three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the billowy ocean”. Paul, my friend from the sea, fellow traveler from shipwrecks, told me to anchor in good ports, and I have decided to follow his advice. Today, I still am the sea. I carry the sea within me... but there will come a day when one will say: the sea no longer exists, the sea is gone. The soul will not have to live with the Atlantic contradiction of calling Pacific what is the most threatening in itself because on that day, God will be all in all. But I will still be there. I am not the sea.... the sea is instilled in me, and I am in God. Caio July 12th, 2003 English Version by Wanda de Melo/Fausto Castelo Branco _______________________________________________________________________ The Sea By "JEROME THOMAS" Maine Maritime Academy "70D He said, "Speak to me of the sea." And I said, "Beauty." The beauty of crystal waves lapping at a tropical beach. Or a proud ship laboring in running sea; Of a dark ghosting beaneath a fire-red sky, Or lightning flashes in the blackened heavens; Of an albatross soaring above the emerald swell, Of wind fraying the slate-gray sea - The beauty of God, Himself, in the stars, the sky, and the vast ocean. He begged, "More of the sea," So I replied, "Power," Power to crumple steel hulls and splinter wood spars, Or blow out canvas and snap chain cable; To flood continents and drown islands, Or carry life to a barren atoll; To spawn deadly storm and wild hurricane, Or a blessed rain and fair monsoon. The Power of the hand of God across Man's earth. He said, "It is not enough, tell me more," So I answered, "Hardship." The hardship of a razor wind and freezing water, Or a dying breeze an the salty swill; Of a glaring sun and burned skin, Or a black sky and raw wet clothes; Of numbed limbs and weary body, Or sleepless nights and the monotony of a watery desert. The hardship of all who work God's sea. He said "Tell me more of the sea." So I said, "Challenge." The challenge of a rising gale or shifting breeze, Of a wild sea or a flat calm, Of a torn lashing sail or an ebbing tide, Of an iced deck or fouled anchor, Of uncharted waters or strange shore. The challenge of God to man, to tame his sea. He asked, "Is there more?" And I spoke, "Fear." The fear of broken masts and rent sail, Or open seam and strained hull; Of shallow water and dangerous shoals, Or deep oceans and mountainous waves; Of gales of wind and raging typhoon, Of lifeless puffs and starving crew. The fear that God instills in those who travel his sea. So He asked, "And what is the sea to you?" I answered, "My life's Breath." The breath of adventure and excitement, Of challenge and wandering; Happiness and fulfillment, Despair and pain; Of hope and youth, Patience and yearning. The breath that God has breathed into my soul, that I should live with His sea.