"I may be too tired to write tonight," I thought, "I don't know if I can even think anymore."
My body and mind were both limp with exhaustion from a busy work day on top of post-migraine fatigue. Yet there was something in me that still wanted to try. Grace is not only a gift - it is a call.
Rodger, my spiritual brother, had sent me an image for this Week of Grace, and some words to inspire me. "Perhaps I could start there..." I considered. I asked God's blessings and began.
The picture Rodger sent was of a sand dollar lying on the beach, a common sight along the coast, but never seen here in the Midwest. I realized that I didn't even really know what a sand dollar is - and so I read a bit online.
I learned that what is found on the shore is the hard outer shell (or "test") of the once-living sea urchin that feeds on plankton on the ocean floor.
The sand dollar's life develops from the union of egg and sperm floating in the sea, resulting in a larva that swims on its own and may be carried for miles by ocean tides. No care is received from the parents who provide only their seed. The larva undergoes a series of metamorphoses before it develops its test. Some varieties of sand dollars apparently live for 8-10 years or more.
Reflecting on the lives of these creatures, it struck me how remarkable it is that they survive, given their perilous start. And yet they do - and each one grows and changes into a round, flat durable adult that bears no resemblance to its early larval life. And on the test of each sand dollar is a beautiful design that resembles the petals of a flower.
As I write this, I cannot help but think of how, in a very different way, we humans often experience perilous starts in life, are carried away by tides and even grow hard shells. And yet, compared to the sand dollar, a much more profound metamorphosis is offered to each of us - and that indeed is great grace.
Below is Rodger's sand dollar image and a short poem I wrote this evening, while reflecting on its life...
(photo by Rodger, used with permission; editing and text by me)
it is time to let go –
to allow the
turbulent sea
to take away the old
self
and cast it on the
shore.
it is time to be free
–
to be washed of all
that was
to be baptized into new
life
by the ocean of His
Love.
it is time to rise
from darkness –
to leave the depths
behind
to find a home in His
great light
where
grace and hope abound.
