June 30 my dad celebrated his 80th birthday. The whole family gathered at the condominium complex. I took a long beach walk every day. I am finally able to do that again because all of my childern are now old enough to go to the pool or beach without an adult present. And one of my childreen is an adult, and can supervise. How about that for cool.
Okay, so I got to take a really long walk. You see many interesting things along the beach, and it is never the same from day to day. That is the beauty of it. On this particular afternoon, the tide had washed up several pools of water. These can be pretty yucky...filled with foam and broken shells, or sometimes they are close enough to the breaking waves to be clean and enjoyable for the little ones to play in. This one was a little yucky, but fairly deep. I looked down to see a jellyfish swimming in the pool. It was fascinating to watch. I could see it swim sideways and watch its tentacles at work. Then I felt sorry for the little guy. He was certainly about to die. The water was prety shallow. Unlike something else that may have washed up, I couldn't pick up the jelly and throw him back to sea! Ouch! So I proceeded to do the best I could at pushing the jelly into the deepest part of the water pool. I used my foot and some sand. Minimal success. Then I continued my walk. Who knows how far.
After turning around, I searched each pool along the way to find my jellyfish. No luck. Why? The tide was no longer coming in as high, and water was not reaching the pools anymore. The pool was empty...for that matter all of them were, and all I found was a (actually numerous) dead jellies. Heavy sigh!!
Now you are thinking...who cares. No one likes jellyfish anyway. They sting and drive people out of the water. You are right. My story continues. The water on this particular afternoon was beautiful. It was clear and the waves were just right. If ever there was a day for swimming in the ocean, this would be it. So my kids and their cousins plunged in with Boogie boards in tow. When I walked up to our claimed spot of beach, I found our cousins looking forlorn. What's wrong, I asked? The answer...jellyfish. My kids did not get stung, but their cousins did; hence, off to the pool and clear water. I stayed down by the beach and watched the crowd. I was amused by a couple of adults with nets, who really must have wanted to ride the perfect waves. Both men would enter the water, catch jellies in their nets, and take them on the shore and bury them. This cleared the way for a little swimming. Very little, because five minutes later they were fishing them out again. Finally one guy gave in and said...too many jellies!
So you see, there is no hope for the jellyfish. No one likes them in the water, because they sting, you really can't remove them from the water, and if they wash up they are certain to die. In this case they kept a beautiful ocean free from swimmers. One of the best days we had actually, but no swimming in the ocean.
I am glad I am not a jellyfish. I am so thankful that there is hope for my soul.
I don't know if there is a time when you can feel closer to God, but I do know that my walks on the beach come pretty close. This is the hymn that came to mind that day.
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
In Him, my righteousness, alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
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| Cousins |
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