...I will take the risk, I will push off to the open sea.  And you will immediately get a certain somber earnestness--something mighty serious will rise up within you--one looks at the quiet coast, all right, it is pretty enough--but the secret of the depth, the intimate, serious charm of the Ocean of an artist's life--with Something on High over it--will take hold of you. (L339, Letters 2:203.) 

Van Gogh scholar, Cliff Edwards, viewed Vincent Van Gogh's perception of nature as simultaneously real and symbolic. His claim is best viewed in Vincent's quote above. The sea that one sees at the "quiet coast...is pretty enough"--but the "Ocean of the artist's life" is not just what one sees through one's eyes. It is more. The Ocean of an artist's life that Vincent speaks of here is not just an outward reality to be appreciated with one's eyes, but also an inward reality, a reality of the soul, which has depth, intimacy, and serious charm. In this case, God's invitation to risk and adventure is not subtle. While the sea that one sees stirs in the depths of the human soul, causing something to rise, God, on the other hand, meets this rising by grabbing the human spirit. When this happens, we are closer to God.