A Walk along the Beach

For the past two week I have walked along the beach at least twice a day, most days a few more times.  My intent is not to brag that I was able to leave central Indiana for a couple of weeks and vacation in paradise.  Nor, is my intent to complain about the part of the world I live in, this morning I walked several county roads in the country side that is within a few miles of the Indianapolis airport.  There is something restful and beautiful about viewing the bean fields and cow pastures and corn stalks.  But, back to beach for a moment.  Walking for 14 days on the beach was a variation from the viewone receives while on a treadmill.  I observed that is nice to walk in a place where the earth, water and sky all seem to embrace and collide in a joyous mixture.  I likewise observed that it would be difficult for me to believe that all that beauty was just a random circumstance.  It seems to me that an intelligent creator is standing near by.  As I walked and observed the vastness of the gulf of Mexico, the sand and the sky, I did not feel particularly small or meaningless. Contrary to the expanse around me somehow I felt that the creator of all of this is interested in me as well.  If he takes grains of sand and makes seemingly endless beaches, and drops of water and makes a enormous expanse of water, and if the sky is larger than I can see, where do I fit in?  On my daily walks I could readily see that there is much going on at the waterfront.  I saw birds and fish trying to catch or avoid being caught depending on whom you were watching at the moment.  I saw parents and grandparents building sandcastles and flying kites and passing along secret techniques that will be passed on to others in the family for years to come.  Though everything was unique and different, together they formed a wonderful picture of unity.  The beach, the water and waves, the sky, the sun and clouds, the families and condos and restaurants and well I could mention many more things, all cooperating to create an ideal day at the beach.

You are a part of God’s plan!  Yes, you!  You are not so small or insignificant that you do not matter!  You matter to God!  And like the beach when we understand that we matter and that our small bit makes a difference, then something of the Spirit transpires: spiritual unit.  Many times I have been a part of something where you just knew that God was pleased.  Something where nearly everyone participated and we were all doing the little we could and  God was moving and making us  something bigger and better than we could be on our own.  Too many times I am inflicted with the virus of individualism that predominates my culture. You know, the, it is all about me, and what I want, and what I think, etc..  The beach reminded me that we are all better when we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.   I am glad that I am a part of His Church.  In spite of failings, and shortcomings, God is seeking to fashion us into something remarkable and beautiful.  Something where we retain our uniqueness but become a part of something greater than our own doings.

I love walking on the beach, and mostly I do it for the usual reasons people do such things, but sometimes I am reminded of things bigger than the beach.