Called to be Glass by the Beach

Beach Glass

 There are two types of glass pieces: the ordinary one you find along the streets and the other you find at the beach. We are called to be the latter.

     

Secretly, when I’m not too consumed by my manliness, I’ve always allowed my thoughts to be fascinated by the beauty of beach glass. Some have taken to call them sea glass or transparent stones but I see them as a surreal yet natural phenomenon of the beach and its environs. How they came into being; I don’t know. It’s difficult for the mind to conceive the science involved in the drastic transformation from an ordinary piece of glass into a stone of considerable beauty. In fact, the differences between glass by the beach and glass along the street corners may have you question whether they both were products of the same bottle or manufacturing plant.

Consider the effects of the first kind. Pieces of broken glass are generally regarded as a nuisance  that people generally want to get rid of. They’re usually a by-product of juvenile delinquency, an ostentatious display of gang violence, a car accident or even a mere slip of the fingers. Oh and let's not forget those sharp edges which make them very dangerous on barefoot grounds and to vehicle/bicycle tires. If that isn't enough, it is also no secret that we hate cleaning it up because it requires a great deal of meticulousness to find all the pieces.

Now consider the latter. This is the same piece of broken glass yet it is the most sought after souvenir by beach goers all over the world. It is the same glass that you can find today being sold on eBay for hundreds of US dollars; the same glass that some people are using to make jewelry and the same glass that others are collecting in large numbers for the purpose of decorating their homes. The once undesirable piece of nuisance has become a desirable symbol of beauty. And to what do we owe the difference? The answer is found at the beach:

                                   The place where the sea and the land meet
                                   And the earth sinks gently beneath our feet;        
                                   The one place that remedies us fast;
                                   A natural recycling plant of unwanted pieces of broken glass

The change is nothing short of amazing. The jagged knives of its margins have been made smooth and its protuberances flattened. It can no longer be toyed with or broken because its fragile core has been hardened. I thus pardon myself for calling it beach glass because it is destitute of the old characteristics of glass. If any glass is in the beach, it is a new creation; old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new. It sits in the sand triumphantly as a transparent stone of a remarkable color and substance. What a metamorphosis!

There should therefore be a clear distinction between the old glass and the new, like the unbeliever of Christ and the believer; no blurred margins or periods of uncertainty. So whether close or distant, people who come into contact with any Christian should bear no difficulty in determining what type of glass he or she is.

The beach in all its glory is the church of Jesus Christ and its natural elements: the sea, sand and the wind represent the changing power and presence of the Spirit of God. How the broken glass gets to the beach is no puzzle too hard to fathom. Those who come to the beach or travel by sea bring them along and they somehow get broken during the excursion. The pieces are left on sand or carried to the shore, not forgetting the local rivers and streams which carry them along with other debris to the sea. Similarly, unbelievers are invited or taken to church and miraculously their hardened hearts get broken by the Holy Spirit. Christ at that instant becomes their Savior and they cling on to him for dear life, remembering the pits that they came from. Time in Word and the study of it cultivates the new man or woman and the longer he or she stays entrenched in the natural agents which take effect on the beach, the more he or she will be likely to change.

The Christian no longer cuts and scars with the sharp edges of his tongue and becomes gentle and safe to be around. He resigns from being the host of negative energy and picks up a torch of cheerful optimism which lights his path as well as the particles of sand all over his body. Some ask rhetorically if he were taken from the beach and he answers, “Yes” and now every where he goes, they inquire which beach he came from. He is a rare beauty; the likes of which their eyes hadn’t seen before.

There are those onlookers however, who won't be impressed simply because the last time they were at the beach they stepped on a broken piece of glass and got cut. The truth is that in as much as these gorgeous stones exists on the beach, there are also those who by ignorance sheltered themselves from the powerful and changing effects of the sea and the wind. The end result was an unchanged, ordinary piece of glass by the beach.

Others still not convinced, would watch over a magnifying glass to test the authenticity of this new stone. They discussed whether his love was with or without dissimulation and if his colors and origin were true. But he remained focused and would not give in to their snares. His edges weren't perfect but he lived a life worthy of honor and praise and always gave the thanks and glory to the beach and the creator of it, for which it was due. People far and wide sought after him for all kinds of reasons: some for show and others for personal gain; but he would stay true to the beach.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away and behold, all things have become new. He sits in the church triumphantly as a transparent stone of a remarkable color and substance, impenetrable and unmovable by the world, the flesh and the devil. What a metamorphosis!

By Valentine Dantes