beach glass

a young boy was wandering along a lake shore alone and in search of coconut trees in preparation for winter. the cold compounded by wind had arrived overnight and although the beach front offered no respite from the elements, it was the only place where the boy believed he could find enough brown husks to press oil for the winter.

the lake water lapped along the shore, the sand and snow seemingly melting and freezing at the same place, at the same moment, a curious phenomenom that only nature's creativity could envision.

at once nestled beneath a small grassy tussock, beside the exposed toes of the young boy, lay a brilliant piece of beach glass. the boy reached down for the smooth shard and brought it to the sky for a better look. he was amazed, first that the edges of this piece of glass had morphed and adapted, glass soft to water and malleable to the elements, certainly the result of high seas and cyclones, devoured by whales in one gulp, processed through the intestines of sea creatures that even man had never seen, those glorious hot pink and glow in the dark green blowfish that live where sunlight is merely a dream.

but what truly amazed the young boy was that this brilliant piece of sea glass was here on a lake shore, far from any ocean or river. the boy had never encountered sea glass next to a lake and as the wind picked up, he looked out past the jetty, over the white caps and attributed this anomaly to either the constant beauty of life or the greatness of God, though neither had ever really made much sense to him, that being the meaning of life or God's relation to sea glass.

at that precise moment of his day dreaming, with a thought distant and a mind even farther, a gust of heavenly wind blew across the lake and scattered stinging sand everywhere. the boy closed his eyes and covered his face in his shirt. the sand stung his ankles and burned his exposed tummy, his paunch bare for the sake of his vision.

though the fury lasted mere seconds, it seemed like forever and when it stopped the boy opened his eyes and looked around. the wind had blown the sand and snow back into the lake and had exposed a beach full of round and perfectly smooth sea glass as far as the eye could see. it was a beach of sea glass, millions of pieces, each glass morsel as smooth as a vintage cola bottle.

the boy got down low, his face at ground level and he closed one eye for a better look. the rainbow glass went on forever, an infinite shore line resembling a kaleidescope. and it dawned on him that not only was he looking at a stained glass shore, but beneath his feet, on this beach, lay glass once sharp that had been battered and bashed, broken and shattered, yet it was something about the journey on the sea of life, the yielding to the elements, soft overcoming hard, water shaping glass, that had smoothed what was once rough and sharp and jagged into a complete complementary creation.

alas, the boy was tired and after a short swim he returned to shore exhausted and took a nap, baking in the sun.

then hours later, waking up, the young boy started to build a beautiful sail boat out of that beach of sea glass, intent on navigating the winds and the blowing breezes. although he didn't know how long it would take, the boy did know exactly where he was hoping to go and whom he was hoping to find.

love and health to all...