I subscribe to 'The Vine' - a site which gives me my daily dose of spiritual support. The daily articles are generally motivating and guiding. But I found today's especially valuable. I think it deserves a wider audience. This is a gem. Here it is, verbatim:
Max Lucado writes: "A little boy is on the beach. He packs the sand with plastic shovels into a bright red bucket. Then he upends the bucket and a sandcastle is created. A man is in his office. He shoves papers into stacks and delegates assignments. Numbers are juggled, contracts are signed, and a profit is made.
"Two builders - two castles. They see nothing and make something. And for both the tide will rise and the end will come. Yet that's where the similarities cease. For the boy sees the end while the man ignores it. Watch the boy as dusk approaches. As the waves near, the wise child begins to clap. There is no sorrow. No fear. No regret. He knew this would happen. He is not surprised. And when the great breaker finally crashes upon his castle and his masterpiece is sucked into the sea, he smiles, picks up his tools, takes his father's hand and goes home. The grown-up however, is not so wise. As the wave of years collapses on his castle he is terrified. He hovers over the sandy monument he protected. He blocks the waves from the walls he has made. Salt-water soaked and shivering he scowls at the incoming tide. 'It's my castle,' he defies. The ocean need not respond. Both know to whom the sand belongs… and I don't know much about sandcastles. But children do. Watch them and learn.
"Go ahead and build, but build with a child's heart. When the sun sets and the tides take - applaud. Salute the process of life, then take your Father's hand and go home."
It's not easy, but being able to accept our sandcastles being washed away by the sea would make our lives much less stressful..We need to learn to let go when the time is right.
20 comments:
an adult takes a little longer i guess to get over their castles..
nice piece..whn do v get to see an original? :)
omg - that IS helpful
a nice breather. just when i was feeling low thinking about the purposelessness of things, work and relationships in life...
letting go is probably one of the hardest things to do in life.
letting go of children
letting go of loved ones
letting go of everything we have
how painful, unless we are able to view it like the child.
parents need to understand that one day the kids will grow up and go their own ways.
kids need to know that one day parents will die and leave this world.
we all need to know that what ever were are achieving and building up can vanish with one splash of the tide.
its not that we cant comprehend it. Its just that we choose not to, because, why think of something that causes pain.
nice piece...!!
Need to let go wen teh time comes , pretty hard thing to do , but have to cope up with it
That is indeed a nice article. A lot to learn from it.
@nisha - soon :-D As soon as I get around to it that is..hehe..
@Me & Sift - glad to be of help!
@Mac - Equally well said!! :-D
@Anon- Yup..have to let go and watch it go away..one of the hardest things to do in life..to just stand, watch, and celebrate instead of mourn.
@Sumo - so what did u learn :-D?
Love, nothing last forever, only God's glory last forever so build those sandcastles!
darn! lol
Just great...
yeah it is tough to do..easy to read and say - how true...
U get some real nice daily dose!!
wow1 That sure is some perspective...lemme think abt it and then we shall discuss
:)
beautiful story...and actually what the sea takes is just the sand.
the joy of creation and sharing...even the form of the castle lives and lingers.
at times one also taunts the sea..but a bright flag on the castle to call out to her...let me see if you can come and get this...
wow!!!
Beautiful...Child's heart is innocent and is full of life adn we adult creave and regret anything and does remain miserable in life..
Take care
Apparently you haven't heard the horrid noises them stupid kids make when the waves come and demolish their even stupider castle. Hey! Whose side are you on... ours or those little brats'?
And I think it's the adult who likes the dusk, because then it's time for him/her to leave office and head for home. The kid, on the other hand, hates it because dusk means it's time to go home where his mom will give him some well-deserved spanking and send him off to bed.
Just a few points to ponder upon :)
hey, nice story... tx for sharing... tho ya, JJs point cannot be refuted either :D
Hmmm....I guess Sumo and I shud have then smiled when our rbi application wud fall apart huh?? :P
Hoarding is always a bad thing - as you metaphorically point out. Too much of anything can never be good. Reminds me of Uncle Scrooge :-)
That was a very moving piece. I can see one of my biggest fears reflected in ur post. I always wonder how I would cope with a big loss cuz I know m not strong nuff!well.. nobody said life is easy, aint it?? sigh!!
Hey, I have already started implementing Riaan's suggestion!!!
Wow. This is definitely helpful. Never quite saw it that way before. mm....
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