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By Stephen K. Ryan<\/p>\nBy Stephen K. Ryan<\/p>\n
I just completed a boat race to Bermuda.\u00a0 The race started off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge just north of Annapolis, Md. and\u00a0\u00a0 I was fortunate enough to be part of Captain George Bauer\u2019s crew on a forty-four foot sailboat.\u00a0 But this is not a story about, storms, race competition, \u00a0tactics and weather\u00a0 but rather this is a story \u00a0about a spiritual journey \u2013 one that I took with the Virgin Mary. It is a story about finding myself close to God, Our Lady and Christ far from land.<\/p>\n
I think all of us find moments when we feel close to God. Certainly when we walk deep into the woods or climb high up on a mountain \u00a0we find ourselves thinking of God; we\u00a0 find ourselves contemplating things greater than ourselves, greater than office e-mails, and weekend errands. For me, I seem to come close to God when I am on a small boat hundreds of miles from land \u2013 for me the ocean lets God in. \u00a0At night, grinding through two-to six a.m. watches, with nothing to see but the horizon, or the edge of the earth or the stars in the infinite night sky, my mind easily begins to contemplate eternity and our creator. \u00a0This of course is \u00a0not new to any of us \u2013 we all have our special places where we feel close to God.<\/p>\n
But this trip was different for me. My boat race to Bermuda was my eighth ocean competition, but it was only my second \u00a0boat race since I became interested in Medjugorje, my second race since I discovered \u00a0the special messages of Our Lady. \u00a0As I set sail, the special messages were on my mind and as our boat settled into the race, out \u00a0on the ocean, what came rushing in \u2013 it seemed to come from nowhere \u2013 as if Our Lady was talking to me \u2013 were the messages from the Queen of Peace that urges us to seek joy in nature and to love the beauty and colors of our world \u2013 a world our God created for us.<\/p>\n
Our Lady \u2013 The Queen of Peace of Medjugorje \u2013\u00a0has talked of \u201cNature\u201d frequently. Here are a few of her\u00a0 beautiful words that\u00a0 capture, for me anyway, \u00a0the relationship between ourselves and the world our Creator has given us.<\/p>\n
Dear children! Also today I call you to give glory to God the Creator in the colors of\u00a0nature. He speaks to you also through the smallest flower about His beauty and the depth of love with which He has created you.\u00a0Find peace in\u00a0nature\u00a0and you will discover God the Creator Whom you will be able to give thanks to for all creatures; then you will find joy in your heart\\ <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Dear children! I invite you now to be open to God. See, children, how nature\u00a0is opening herself and is giving life and fruits. In the same way I invite you to live with God and to surrender completely to him<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Dear Children! Today I invite you to go into\u00a0nature\u00a0because there you will meet God the Creator. Today I invite you, little children, to thank God for all that He gives you.<\/p>\n
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