Good morning…
As we learned about the chaos of transition in our class last week, the letting go of what was, the discomfort of living in uncertainty, and the waiting in trust for God to rebuild a new life around us, she suddenly said, “That reminds me of when I was a kid.”
She went on to explain, “My brothers and I loved making sandcastles at the beach. After working together to build one big sandcastle, when the time was right, one of us would announce, ‘It is time to ROUND DOWN.’ We all knew what that meant. We would all dive with delight onto the sandcastle we had created and, motioning around and around with the palm of our hands, we would completely flatten the old structure. Then we would begin building a brand new sandcastle on the spot where the other had been destroyed. Eventually one of us would announce again, ‘It is time to ROUND DOWN.’ We would repeat the building up and breaking down process for hours on end.”
She noticed her mind sparking new connections. “Even back then, I noticed each time we ’rounded down’ that the flattened sand made a wider, larger, higher circle of hard sand. That base of dispersed, hard-packed sand became the foundation on which to build our next sandcastle. Each castle was not lost, it’s sand was just reused to support future castles.”
Pondering her story, a biblical connection now sparks in my mind. Paul and his good friend Timothy also faced a time of transition, the “rounding down” of the old way to make room for Christ’s new way. As they were being called by God to spread the resurrection message into the wider world, Paul shared with Timothy these words of encouragement: Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life (1 Timothy 6:17-19, NLT).
What new connections now spark in your mind?
…Sue…
