THE SPIRIT ON THE WATERS

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Not the least of the joys which the Estuary affords is the ever changing interplay of light on water. This is at times so strikingly beautiful that it almost brings a rational man to believe in ghosts and gods. Almost, but not quite! It seems probable to me that the teller of tall stories who begot the Book of Genesis was well acquainted with the glory of dazzling sunlight silvering some stormy Semitic sea or perhaps with the unfathomable beauty of moon and stars reflected in the mirror of calm waters. I imagine that he fondly believed that he had seen with his own eyes the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters. Astonished by such beauty the Big Question Mark that we all have to confront seems never to be bigger. But for me the Spirit only asks questions. It offers no answers

At times the light is such that the whole Estuary becomes a glittering silver platter. I have often sailed home down river under a cloud while ahead of me, out to the Bight and so to sea, there has been bright sunshine and beneath the sun the waves have been dancing and sparkling fit to bust. At other times my boat beneath the sun has danced along a narrow silver path down to the sea like Dorothy dancing up the Yellow Brick Road. At other times… but there are too many variations on this theme. Let me simply say again what I have said before, the light on the water is ever changing, ever new and very often breathtakingly beautiful.