Surfing may not be the first thing most people think of when they think of Ireland, but that might all begin to change with the release of the new documentary, Between Land and Sea.
The film, directed by Ross Whitaker, chronicles life in the surf town of Lahinch in County Clare. Once dominated by a golfing resort, Clare has transformed itself since about 2000 into a surfing mecca on the craggy Atlantic coast.
The change is immediately apparent if, say, you set foot in a local pub. “Tartan caps have been replaced by washed out baseball caps,” reports the Irish Times. The documentary follows the lives of this new community: a surf school owner, a visiting surf superstar and the enthusiasts who are drawn to the roaring Irish surf and beautiful emerald coastline.
See it if you can, urges the Times, if not for the characters and their stories, for the natural beauty it depicts:
“Shots of roaring waves that push all else out of the screen clarify why the nation has a reputation to compare with the world’s most desirable surfing destinations.”
And if surfing enthusiast and Boston College philosophy professor Peter Kreeft has it right, chasing the next wave is an apt metaphor for one’s spiritual journey:
“I, the surfer, am—myself. The body with which I surf in the sea symbolizes the soul, with which I ‘surf’ in God. The sea is God. The beach is the approach to God. Surfing is the experience of God, or the spiritual life.”
Why not make a pilgrimage to Lahinch this summer? Definitely in the summer.
And today we celebrate...