There's
a place I sit by the harbor's edge, to look across
the water at the city of Salem. Today, I noticed
something I had not seen before.
It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was low
in the sky. The tide was ebbing, and was midway
between high and low. Lazily, I stared at the waterline,
not particularly looking at anything. It was a strangely
warm day for the first week of October, and the
warmth lulled me into this casual lethargy.
But,
suddenly something caught my attention. Out of the
corner of my eye something sparkled. Had I truly
seen that? I wasn't sure, but now my senses were
casually alerted. There! again it had happened.
A
small stream of water, something like the spray
of a miniature fountain had spit from the ground
- not once but twice. I was more keenly aware, and
began to scan the shoreline closest to the water.
At first I noticed one here, and another there;
small streams of water spitting out of the ground,
an inch, to as much as five inches high. Then as
my trained eye observed the beach, it appeared as
though a fountain show was being displayed for my
entertainment. A few here, and a few there, and
suddenly as many as a dozen in a small area, all
spitting randomly, yet, as though they were synchronized
to some silent song.
I watched in amazement for a short time, and then
my curiosity got the better of me, and I rose to
approach the mysterious spitting shore.
I crouched for some time amid a particularly busy
spitting area of the beach, and waited for the streams
to begin again. As they did, I attempted to discover
the source of this strange phenomenon. Looking closely
at the ground from which one spurt came, I noticed
nothing. Going to the source of another spurt, I
dug into the sand about two inches, but this yielded
no information.
Becoming bolder, I dug about four inches into the
beach beneath a third spit, and discovered a mussel.
Could this be the source of the fountain show. Digging
once more into a new location, I discovered the
same thing - a mussel.
The wise New Englanders among you must forgive the
naivety of this California boy. You knew the answer
to my mystery immediately, but I was surprised like
a grade school boy. This led me to consider some
deeper truths about life and spirituality.
The
wonders of life are all around us, and evidences
of the goodness of God regularly spring up in our
presence. Yet, like my lazy demeanor on the shoreline,
we often do not notice the wonders as they occur.
The whimsical humor of God created a small fountain
show on the beach, and I've missed it dozens of
times I am sure. Today, somehow, I discovered it.
These wonders are around us every day, and generally
we are too busy, too engaged in "life" (if that's
what it really is) to notice. Yet, once we have
learned to capture the wonders of everyday life,
it may be that we still have not gone far enough.
In order to discover the mysteries, which lie beneath
the surface, you too must dig. The Bibles which
sit dustily upon the coffee tables and bookshelves
of our homes have hidden treasures of great value,
and only a small bit of work - a tiny digging -
has great power to uncover these riches. This is
also true for the lessons we can discover in nature,
and the valuable truths to be learned by meditating
on the greatness of God.
Next
time you see the shoreline spitting for your entertainment,
remember that taking a little bit of notice, and
being willing to do a little bit of digging, can
yield great treasures in your life.
