Are you baptized?

“Back in the beach pad there was a velvet painting of Jesus riding goofyfoot on a rough-hewn board with outriggers, meant to suggest a crucifix, through surf seldom observed on the Sea of Galilee, though this hardly presented a challenge to Flip’s faith. What was ‘walking on water,’ if it wasn’t Bible talk for surfing?”—Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice

Bap·tism: /ˈbapˌtizəm/: religious rite of sprinkling water onto a person's forehead or of immersion in water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church.

I have baptism on the brain. It’s because my daughter will be getting baptized this weekend and following a rare two-week stint out of the water due to ill health, my return to the surf this week had me thinking of our own surfing purification process.

Now before this becomes one of those crazy one-sided polarizing religion vs. anti religion discussions (that’s not what I’m doing today), let's take a second and put aside whatever beliefs you may or may not have. Set them down. Yes, right there is fine. Keep reading. 

I’m assuming if you’re receiving this letter from Inherent Bummer you’re a surfer, or a potential surfer, or an aspiring surfer or sometimes surfer: So I’ll ask you: Isn’t it hard to ignore the “spiritual” connection we have with the sea? I could be surfing a man-made river jetty surrounded by rebar and rocks made of freeway with oil rigs in the distance and still see the beyond when I’m in the water. I just can. Maybe it’s in the salt. But I believe no matter how powerful your atheism bleeds, you’ll have a hard time convincing me that the first duck dive of a session doesn’t do something inexplicable to your spiritual makeup — cleansing you of whatever parasite(s) you need to shake. 

You can call it a kick-start of endorphins, a hangover wash or just the simple cleansing of guilt, longing, despair, grief, illness or anger — whatever it is, it’s undeniable, and I challenge you to focus on it the next time you paddle out. Feel what you need washed away leaving your body the second you punch through the shorebreak. It happens every surf no matter how grim or blissful the conditions. You will feel regenerated every single time.

As I mentioned, I was sick for a long time. No voice. Sinus. Cough. Cold. Flu. Boring stuff. I got it all. Then finally, Monday I made my return to the sea and it took no time to feel the parasites flee. The water was cold and it had rained for days before so my family members may not have approved of this premature return, but I needed it. It was bigger than the sickness.

I punched through the shorebreak and was instantly a changed being. I paddled out and caught exactly three multiple turn waves and felt my soul return — and my sinus fill with gutter water but I waded out of the water a true believer. Now I just need to teach my daughter to surf.—Travis Ferré