Surfing is a special kind of madness, a feeling for the sea, a combination of love, knowledge, respect, fear- instinctive perception gained through repeated contact.”-Tom Curren
What's interesting to me about this quote, in fact, about all of the surfing-oriented quotations, is that one may easily replace the word "surfing" with something related more directly to the life of the Spirit. For example, "Religion is a special kind of madness, a feeling for God's grace, a combination of love, knowledge, respect, fear...; instinctive perception gained through repeated contact."
See what I mean?
Consider this one, altered from #29: "For those searching for something more than just the norm, we lay it all down, including what others call sanity, for just a few moments abiding with something larger than life. We do this because we know there is still something greater than all of us. Something that inspires us spiritually. We start going downhill when we stop taking risks."
Beyond all of the odd perceptions of surfing and surf culture, beyond that captured in the bilious ads in surfing magazines and by fashion designers eager to market clothing with a surf cache, are people who wish to quietly abide with nature. That's it, really. Others do so with other types of outdoor activities, especially those that don't require much in the way of equipment. Such hope for this kind of perception can't be achieved without accepting a kind of surrender. A surfer is just a person with a floating board; not the "lifestyle" or the habits or lingo or attitude usually assigned to them in popular culture. With that board, the surfer, if he or she is willing to respect the sea, its rhythms and its power, may for a brief time surrender to nature's energy and feel as complete with creation as is possible in the mortal dimension.
Without question, we do the same thing with our spirituality. It doesn't require much in the way of equipment, it may be pursued individually or in a community of faith, and, if we let ourselves abide within it and feel its rhythms and its power, we may be in as close a communion with God as is possible in the mortal dimension. It is also through this communion that we get a glimpse of the eternal promise, or, in the words above, find "instinctive perception gained through repeated contact.”