Sand & Surf & Elephant Turf

Every year that we go to the beach, my dad never fails to make a sand sculpture. In past trips he has formulated the figures of turtles, dolphins, mermaids, seahorses, and other various sea-inspired creatures. This year, I inquired to him (on behalf of my cousin) about trying something new. Something non-oceanic. An elephant, to be specific. That was fairly non-oceanic. If an elephant ever tried to brave the ocean, I’m sure he would regret it. Or surprise us. One or the other. Either way, it’s a 1 in a 850,000,000,000,000 chance that you’ll see an elephant in the ocean.*

*Data not exactly accurate or accredited. Thank you.

Now, where, perhaps, did this inspiration come from? To do something new and different. To defeat the ongoing stereotype: the sea only yields sea-life. To find creativity in the norm. If you were to ask, I would say the answer is obvious. Among the rest of the sunscreen-wearing, umbrella-and-chair toting, book-engrossed beach-goers, this one is an artist. Not an artist of paper and pencil or canvas and paint. Not even of ceramic and acrylic (which is by far my absolute favorite). My art is the practice of bringing equality, peace, and inspiration to the generations of tomorrow. Yes, comic book expressionism at its best.

In gracing the beach sands with a beast that does not belong to it, one is inserting a piece of life into another, joining a setting with a juxtaposed object that inevitably contradicts its surroundings. This is the goal of the artist and the human being on this beautiful slice of soil called Earth: to be an individual in a setting that, whether subtly or extremely, contradicts us to the point of changing parts of the setting for the better. Call it environmental revolution:

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NLT)

Woah! God thought of it first??? Crazy, crazy stuff…

Build a sand sculpture. Change the world.

Four Corners of Pondering

Food for thought that my brain regurgitated just for you! Ready?

1.
It will always be in one’s best interest to use time to his or her advantage, no matter how slim the possibility of a positive outcome may be. Instead of telling that pre-teen to shut it, grow up, and get a life…just wait for time to change him into the man that God has called him to be. Instead of wishing and worrying that your financial aid won’t come or that your medical form might not be accepted two months late…just put it all in God’s hands, giving Him your worrying time because He can do a lot more with it than you can.

2.
Time is given to everyone. Now, as we know, comparing our time to the vast expanse of history and future, we easily see that our time is short. Very short. And we have even shorter periods of time in our lives that coagulate into one life. As I work with the kids in the preschool this summer, I’ve realized that each child has internally, whether they are conscience of it or not, a clock counting down the minutes, hours, days until they will grow out of that small skin and into something a year older, a year wiser, a year with more skill and compassion and conflict. They will never realize that someday they will be my age. I am at a completely different bus stop in a completely different town, ready (or wanting to be ready) for my next adventure. I am heartbroken by some of the children in my care who are living day to day with secrets and hardships, though I suppose we all have those at some point. They have grown up too fast, they struggle to grow up, or their parents have done all the growing up for them, leaving the extraordinary human being contained in that four-year-old body behind. The child will never know what happened to them. What the misuse of time has done to them. But thankfully, God has His loving arms wrapped around that child and he can use any situation to His own advantage. He is God afterall.

3.
As a group of people called human beings, most of us enjoy that short period of time called life and in doing so we are fulfilling God’s purpose, or at least a part of it. The connections and fellowship made through a correct use of time is certainly a wise way to pave one’s life. I can say from my miniscule eighteen years of experience that I have not always been a steward with my time. In fact, my personality calls for time used in excess, e.g. I’m considerably slow. However, slowness, used with caution, is a gift that God gave to us in order to retain our sanity. Sally Theology 101.

4.
The time we spend, whether fast-paced or slow-paced, is what we make it. Unfortunately, God doesn’t give us a Blackberry that tells us what to do next in our busy schedules. If I want to spend six hours playing my Playstation 3, then so help me I will! Obviously, those six hours could have been time to study or read or go on a date or work on an art project. At East Carolina, for every hour of class time, they recommend three hours of studying. Yeah, THREE hours. Another gift from God: divine time management. Pray for focus. Then praise God and never stop. It works, I promise you. Anything is possible with God.

What?? You’re still wasting time reading all this? Get to work!