On a walk last week, I happened upon some sea glass mixed in with the various seashells scattered across the sand. I couldn't resist picking up that first piece... and now I'm hooked! Before each walk, I shove a plastic sandwich bag into the pocket of my sweatpants and head off to see what colors, shapes and sizes await me!
The gathering process is usually done in the first portion of my walk and when the bag is appropriately filled, I have to employ a strong dose of self-discipline in order to ignore the glistening pieces that remain on the ground. Sometimes I yield -- surely the bag can hold just one more!
I love the variety of colors and find myself letting out shouts of glee when I happen upon a more unique blue or brown mixed in with the varieties of white and green. Sometimes a piece will have a unique texture or left-over lettering on its surface - these are a special treat!! They come in all shapes and sizes, too, yet all of them have edges that have been worn smooth from the combination of time, sand, water and the tossing of the waves.
It didn't take me long in the gathering process to realize that the largest collection of sea glass is to be found close to the rocky jetty at one point along the beach. Presumably the glass objects get tossed against the rocks, break and then are carried away by the waves to be worn smooth before being eventually deposited on the beach. Not a very pleasant process for the original objects... but with an enchanting end result.
As I was wrapping up my walk yesterday, my bag full of treasures resting heavily in my hand, I began to ponder what made the glass pieces so precious to me. After all, they were just broken fragments of discarded glass objects - garbage, really, that had been dumped into the sea... broken... tossed about in the water... the friction of sand rubbing against them... trash scattered across the beach...
Yet the glistening colors and smooth edges captivate me.
These glass pieces are survivors... or, better yet, conquerors of sorts. Life has handed them a hard journey... but they have become more beautiful in the living of it. Transformation, of a kind, has been affected on them. Surrendered on the beach, they await discovery by anyone who might notice them.
The spiritual implications, for me, are huge. The sea glass is an example for me - to live life, to acknowledge hardships, to not give up, to be changed in the process, to let beauty be the end result, no matter what.
Because I believe in a Creator God who has also become my Savior, I don't have to be afraid of what this life might bring my way. Even if brokenness is part of my story. I can be like sea glass - smoother and more beautiful as a result. And as I encounter other people on their journey, perhaps I can encourage them on their way.
