This is a story about two different camps. One is located on an Island in the middle of a lake. The other is located in a bay at the end of the lake.This is a story about the wind. Some days the wind blows, some days it does not. The island has no protection from the wind. No matter where the wind comes from, the island is always exposed. The bay is protected, and only notices the wind when it blows from the south. The bay cannot understand the daily coping that the island must do. The bay does not understand the power of the water that is moved by the wind. The waves come, over and over again against the strength of the island. The safety of the bay only exists if you stay in the bay, where the wind does not play a roll in everyday life. The safety of the bay is an illusion. If you believe the world to be like the bay, then your world is small. The island is challenged everyday and lets the wind blow; one cannot stop the wind. The island finds both benefits and challenges in the wind. The blowing keeps the island free from summer bugs; the blowing makes it hard to paddle to the bay.
I was in a boat this past summer in the bay. I was coming from a night of a barbecue and singing, it was late. When I started the boat, the water was calm and the rid was smooth; I did not feel any wind. It was dark out and the sky was clear and the highway of the Milky Way stretched across the dark. As I traveled from the bay to the island I came out of the bay into the open water. It took me a minute to realize why the boat was being tossed about. The bay had protected me from the strong north wind that was blowing. The water was a mix of waves, rises, white caps and spray. The boat was shifting across entire levels of water.
Protected, we know what is safe. We have no danger to confront. Protected can be dangerous. It lulls you to believe that you know how to protect yourself, but if you have never known what it is to be challenged how can you possibly know what it means to defend and protect?
Step into the wind. Step outside of the comfort of your illusion of protection. And be ready for anything and everything.