A Hidden World

What lies beneath?

On holiday in Devon we snorkelled at 3 different locations and despite imperfect conditions and my slow progress in technique, we enjoyed our glimpses into the otherworldly life beneath the surface, marvelling at different kinds of fish and jellyfish and the gorgeous array of plant life. The only species we could identify were a pipefish and the beautifully named snakelocks anemone, which David saw and I missed. Swimming with a large shoal of small electric blue fish was a magical experience.

These tiny peeks into the vast diversity of submarine life brought to mind Nehemiah’s wonderfully understated verse of praise, ‘You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.’ Nehemiah 9:6

Nehemiah manages to sum up in a single sentence everything that exists in the cosmos and on earth and to attribute it all to the creative imagination and power of God. When I don my facemask and snorkel and dip my head under the surface, I feel that God is drawing back a veil and sharing a hidden part of his creation. It makes me want to break into praise with Nehemiah,

Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Lizzie and Nate, our daughter and son-in-law, recently had a much more dramatic glimpse into the hidden world of the ocean with a spectacular boat trip off north-west Scotland, where they saw dolphins, minke whales and a juvenile humpback whale!