Do you remember that hymn, On Christ The Solid Rock I stand?
I don't know if that is actually the name or not, but Its the most important line of the song. "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. . . "

North Carolina is an ocean state.  I haven't really thought of it that way because I haven't been to the coast yet.  Still, I'm told that if you walk East long enough, you'll pass through the pastures and the forests and swamps and if you manage to avoid stepping on a Copperhead you will eventually walk straight into the Atlantic Ocean.  It will be cool to see that ocean, from the ground.  I've only ever seen it from 30,000 feet above.

Its only been 3 weeks, but I can tell you that the pastures at the beginning of the journey are beautiful. They are green and they are exciting. You walk through them and they are familiar and there is a comfort in their consistency.

Then you hit the forest. Now the forest is dark, but if you are there at the right time, you experience the wonder of the fireflies. They sparkle magically ahead in the dark, . . . and its warm and there are so many sounds that you feel like you have invaded some private sanctuary, but you don't feel bad, you're just happy to be there and to experience it. Still, at a certain hour, the lightning bugs go to bed and the chorus becomes a stillness.

The swamp. . . . its hard to find a positive side to the swamp. The fireflies are there too, but they are harder to enjoy. There are brief moments of beauty, but you are constantly thinking about the Cotton Mouths and the Water Moccasins. You spend your time looking every which way, worried that they will suddenly appear next to you in the water.

Finally, you break out onto the beach and you see the ocean beyond the dunes.  You are full of joy until you realize that with each step you take, the ground shifts beneath your feet. You are walking faster but hardly gaining ground. You start to get tired. You are out of breath. Your feet are burning on the traitorous sand and then. . . you see it, . . . a rock. Was it there before? Did it appear because you were looking for it? Its mostly buried but you can make out its irregular surface and see where the sand is resting in its crevices. With one step, you are on it and then you see that it stretches before you and dives straight into the ocean. You smile. You're going to make it to the ocean after all. With mixed feelings you look back in the direction of your journey and only then do you realize that the rock under your feet rises up and bridges the swamp and its granite surface reflects light into the dark of the forest and it breaks into slabs of blue and green and borders the pastures as a stone wall.

Why is it that we always look for the rock at the very end?
Not this time.
I'm on the edge of the forest and ahead I can smell the swamp.
I'm looking for it now.

"He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock and made my footsteps firm."
-Psalm 40:2