Walked on the Milky Way

Tonight we stood in the Milky Way…

    For those of you that have never experienced it, this is the only way I can describe it. We stood in the Milky Way. And I promise you, this description fails in comparison to what we actually experienced.

    Tonight my bestie and I went exploring, seeking another mind blowing adventure like we always do. There seems to be no shortage of these on this island. It is indeed a magical place, as many of you have seen in my pictures. However, what we discovered tonight could not be captured on film. Trust me, we tried over a dozen frustrating times.

    Tonight’s lunar cycle was a new moon, meaning no moon, and no ambient light. So we trekked into the ocean during low tide. We walked out into the shallow pools left in the coral produced by the receding tide. It was there that we discovered a beauty too great to be captured on film.

    As we walked out through the pools, the water came alive under our very feet. Each step, every splash of water, revealed thousands of tiny, glowing neon lights. It was as if the milky way was lighting our path. We paused and looked up into the moonless night sky, illuminated by millions of twinkling stars, only to realize that the light show under our feet exceeded that beauty by a million times.

    Every step of the way revealed this brilliant display of bioluminescent light that supersedes anything your mind could fathom. As we walked through the shallow pools, each step revealed more of God’s beauty. It was as if every step, or every splash of water electrified millions of tiny LED neon lights. It was surreal.

    Turns out this phenomenon is caused by plankton and called “Ocean “phosphorescence”. It can be seen at night when the water is disturbed, largely due to the dinoflagellates; they occur ubiquitously in the oceans as planktonic forms, responding to mechanical stimulation when the water is disturbed by emitting brief bright light. It is actually a defensive mechanism used to alert when predators are in the area.

    We tried many times to capture this brilliant display of magical light on film. Numerous videos captured pure darkness. No mater how bright the phosphorescence display beneath our feet illuminated the area, my camera was unable to capture it. The millions of natural glowing neon LED’s were invisible to technology, yet lit up our world like surfing the milky way.

    As frustrated as we were to be unable to capture and share this, we accepted the fact that on this night, at this time, at this specific place, God revealed this special, beautiful magic, solely for us. Tomorrow you may go out to the same place and discover something different, or nothing at all, but tonight what we experienced was special, and just for us.

    As is life! You see God has a special plan for each and every one of us. At times, especially the hard times, we can find it difficult, or even impossible to appreciate this. But we have to trust in HIM! He knows our fate, even before we know the beginning. This was reminded to me tonight. No matter what your belief, no mater what God you chose to worship, I can assure you that what we had the honor of witnessing tonight was NOT the result of a big bang! This was a display of the ability of microscopic organisms to try to deflect the attempts of predatory crustaceans to devour them. This takes logical thought and does not happen by accident. So when you are at a point in your life where there seems no end in sight, trust in Him. God has it all mapped out. He knows our fate before we comprehend the beginning.