Work With the Wave

08.18.08

I was going down line and Tom Curren dropped in on me. It was cool though, partly b/c it was Curren and partly b/c I dropped in on the 6 friends that dropped in on the guy that was on the peak. In a 30 yard stretch 7 people got cut off and everyone was smiling and saying, “Tom Curren just dropped in on my wave.”
Since I had the privilege of riding a few feet behind him I thought I should watch closely and try to learn something. This is what I observed; Tom works with what the wave gives him. I don’t mean he floats a section because it’s closing out. I mean, he works with the wave – the way he pumped changed each time depending on what that section was doing. When he floated a section, it wasn’t just like the last floater he did because that wave wasn’t just like the last wave. Often my surfing is UGLY – me trying to force the wave to work with me and me receiving the same consequences.

Surfing is a culture that values rebellion. The founding fathers of surfing were rebels, many innovations in surfing were made by rebels and it goes on and on. But, rebellion isn’t a good thing. In fact, the best surfing is submitting to and working with a wave - not fighting against it. This is where terminology is important. There is a difference between rebellion and a pioneering spirit . Ultimately rebellion is against God because HE establishes authorities. God has set up the universe in a certain way – like gravity for example. You can refuse to accept it and you can fight against it but you cannot overcome the fact that you are subject to gravity. There are moral laws that are just as binding. Jesus said He is offering us LIFE. Often in our actions, words and thoughts we run contrary to what God tells us in the Bible, b/c we think that God might not be looking out for our best interest. So, we shine Him and do it our way – that’s rebellion.

Tom showed me that it’s a beautiful thing when you stop fighting the wave and work within the parameters of what it gives you. Jesus shows me that it’s an amazing thing when I submit to God’s plan and live within it.
1 Samuel 15:23 “Rebellion is like the sin of withcraft…”

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