Wednesday June 22, 2005
Life without labels
Water levels in Okanagan Lake have risen higher this year than they have for years. Between the winter snow-pack melting, and a month of rain, the usual gravel beach has almost disappeared. Waves lap up into the shrubbery.
Each morning, as I walk the dog along the shore, I see changes along the beach. Some mornings, gentle overnight waves have sifted out the finest gravel and heaped it higher up the shore. Other mornings, bigger waves have sucked the finer stuff away and left nothing behind but piles of larger rocks.
Two processes at once
I saw an explanation of this, once, when Joan and I were holidaying on the Caribbean island of Montserrat – before its volcano blew up and covered most of the island with ash. We swam at a magnificent black-sand beach. The sand was deep and soft, and sloped gently down into the bay.
One night a storm roared in. It pounded the beach. The next time we came for a swim, most of the beach was gone, and the sand that remained sloped steeply into the ocean.
“Don\’ worry,” a local reassured us. “It come back. This happen before, lotsa time.”
He drew our attention to a billboard, put up by Montserrat\’s tourist authority, with diagrams of how waves worked. It was adorned with a bewildering array of whirls and whorls and arrows. But I gathered that storm waves wash the sand out to sea; small peaceful waves toss it back.
I didn\’t understand the physics of it. I still don\’t. But the billboard\’s main point was that both processes were going on all the time. It was not like two different wave actions. There was no abrupt transition point between the two kinds of waves, when building-up switched over to tearing-down. The beach was constantly being built up – and it was constantly being torn down.
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For a lighter look at ethics, faith, and life, I recommend Ralph Milton\’s weekly e-newsletter Rumors. You can subscribe to it at the Wood Lake Books home page in Ralph Milton\’s Site, or by sending a note directly to ralphmilton@woodlake.com.
It\’s also worth pursuing Richard Fairchild\’s United Online site. Another site worth visiting is David Keating\’s \”SeemslikeGod\” page.
Which is rather like life, it seems to me.
Most of the time, we think of life as distinct good and bad experiences. Someone you love dies – that\’s bad. You get a promotion at work into management – that\’s good. You move to a seniors\’ apartment and have to get rid of years of treasured possessions – that\’s bad. Your daughter graduates from university with honors – that\’s good.
But the good experiences often have negative side effects. Now that she has graduated, your daughter finds a job in a distant city. The promotion creates a barrier between you and former co-workers.
Conversely, bad experiences can lead to life-changing benefits. Possessions – and gardens – no longer become a burden, restricting your freedom. Grief leads you into rewarding volunteer work with bereaved families.
Some say God gives us experiences. Others say they just happen. Either way, I don\’t think they come with labels attached, marking them good or bad. The experiences themselves have no specific value. The value comes from how those experiences affect us.
Ultimately, will they build us up? Or tear us down?
Unlike a beach, we do have a choice.
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Copyright © 2002 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
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