Sands of Time

All my grandchildren love to visit our house because although our home is tiny, we live right on the sand at the beach. When one of my young grandsons visited me recently, I wanted to teach him how to build a sand castle. As I watched his tiny hands form patterns in the sand, I was reminded of a story (by Max Lucado) that I read many years ago…with a lesson that none of us should never forget.

The sun is bright, the water is blue and a little boy is on the beach. He bends down to scoop sand into a bucket and packs it down firmly. He turns the bucket over and to his delight…a sand castle is starting to form. All afternoon he works on his castle, packing the walls, forming a moat, finding the right size rocks. Bottle caps can help and so can a perfect piece of driftwood, treasures that wash up from the sea.

Meanwhile, the freeways are jammed, the city is busy and a man is at his desk. He pours through paperwork and pounds the keys on his laptop. His phone rings, sales presentations are made and contracts are signed. And if everything goes right, a profit might be made. All his life he will work hard, because that is what he knows. Perhaps over time a business will be built.

These are two builders of two castles who have a lot of common. They see something where there is nothing and yet they are both diligent and determined. For both builders the tide will rise and the end will come, yet that is where the similarities end, for the boy sees the end…while the man ignores it.

Watch the little boy as dusk approaches and the waves come ever nearer. His youthful wisdom leads to excitement as the waves approach. In him there is no sorrow, no fear, no regret. He knows this will happen and is not surprised. When the biggest wave finally crashes into his castle, he smiles, picks up his tools, takes his father’s hand and goes home, feeling the love of his father and satisfied with the ways of the world.

The man, however, has forgotten the lessons of his childhood. As the wave of years collapse on his castle, he is terrified. He hovers over his business and tries to protect it from the waves of trouble that he knows will eventually come and he becomes angry that his hard work is saltwater soaked by the sands of time. “This is my castle”, he screams but the ocean doesn’t answer. The ocean doesn’t need to respond because we all know to whom the sand belongs.

I may no longer be very good at building sand castles, but my grandchildren sure are. If I watch them, I can learn from them. I can learn that if I am going to build my own castle, I need to build it with a child’s heart such that when the sun sets and the tides take it away, I don’t worry about it…Instead I smile! Then I take my Father’s hand and go home.

A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.

~ John Lubbock