I was a surfer in a former life. Or I will become a surfer in a future life.

I don’t believe in reincarnation, but I do catch a glimpse of the eternal in water, especially in ocean waves. It’s a glimpse I’m trying to chase down and capture—if even just a drop—by writing fiction with water running through it as a symbol of love and connection.

Watching “Unstoppable,” a film about surfer Bethany Hamilton, as I flew (in a commercial airliner) over the Midwest this weekend reminded me how much I love waves.

A wave is an entity, yet has no body. It’s energy embodied in water. It’s transient and powerful. It’s cheesy and profound: “Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water,” an Eastern philosopher whose name I did not catch is quoted as saying in the surf film Saltwater Buddha. “Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it.”

Right on.

And when I don’t feel like puzzling all of that out, a wave can be just plain beautiful. I could watch ocean or Great Lakes waves forever.