I've decided this blog post will be about a seashell, Christmas, friendship, life... okay, I'll just start writing. My dear friend Angela asked me to bring a conch shell back from Belize for her. I'm not sure why she didn't get one herself when she came down to visit Belize, but my guess is her suitcase was too full with other souvenirs. Being the great friend that I am, I brought this one home for her.
As I was washing it off before wrapping it as her Christmas gift I got to thinking about it. About how beautiful this shell is. How I'd prefer this shell to one purchased at the store. Why is that? And here are my thoughts... One reason is that it's always great to find something. There's a joy in discovering things, in figuring things out, in finding something, and in understanding. It starts when we're born and it never gets old. I've never met someone who didn't have anything in their bucket list. There's always “I want to try this...” or “I wish I knew how to...” Another reason is that I find this shell, straight from the ocean, more beautiful than the ones from the store. The kind you can buy are smooth and polished; they are so... perfect. There's a real quality to this one that speaks to me about myself and about life. This shell isn't perfect, but it's real, it's true to life, nothing fake, not sanded down and polished.
Every seashell is unique and individual, just like every snowflake, and every one of us. I find it incredible to think about the love God put into creating each shell in the ocean... and then I can't even believe what that means about the love He has for each of us, from the moment He created us and for all eternity. The more you look at the seashell the more you see the small details, the beautiful in the design, the functionality, etc. Just as the more you get to know someone, understand them, the more you see the depth, the complexity of who they are, and you see the beauty of the Creator in that person.
Our lives are just as unique and individual as we are. No two people have the same life, no matter how similar it may seem from the outside. Here's how seashells differ from snowflakes; they have a life story. Each seashell has cracks, chips, and maybe even some algae growing on it. Life is bittersweet. The seashell shows it's endured life's bitter times along with the sweet times. This seashell isn't sanded down and polished; pretending life isn't tough sometimes. It's bumps and bruises along the way, the tough times, are exactly what makes it so beautiful.
Since I've been home for Christmas break I've had several times when the bittersweetness of life is obvious. One being my coming home early for Angela's dad's funeral. Obviously, the funeral was a sad and difficult time but I also couldn't help but feel so blessed to be able to come home from Belize to be there. In every “bitter” time there's an underlying current of the “sweet”. At the funeral, like any funeral, the gratitude for what we had, the wonderful person, the love we shared, and our great times with them, is what makes the loss so difficult. The hard times are what make us appreciate the good times. Remembering the good the times, and knowing that there are more good times to come, is what gets us through the hard times.
It's Christmas. Nobody knows the bittersweetness of life like the Holy Family. Mary's going to have Jesus, the Savior of the world... but not how you'd think, it'll be in a cold stable, they have to flee to Egypt because someone wants to kill the baby... and none of that will compare with watching her Son be crucified. But there were also the sweet times, holding her newborn son, rocking him to sleep, singing and laughing and playing with him, watching him grow into a boy, watching him grow into a man, those good times helped Mary in the hard times. God knows us better than we know ourselves and His plan is perfect. It is through the Incarnation, Jesus' bittersweet time on earth, that all people, from all time, will be saved from their sins. And it is only when we see the whole picture, the good times and the bad times together, that we can see how it makes sense. We attempt to see the whole picture now, but we won't see it in it's entirety, in it's perfection until Heaven.
Last topic. Friendship. Christmas is such a joyful “sweet” time each year. The Church celebrates Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter each year for a reason. It's not just to reflect on Christ's life, but on our lives, as well. We are naturally grateful for what we have this time of year, we're kinder to strangers, we're more generous, we're joyful, because after all “It's Christmas!” This is why Christmas is so many people's favorite time of year. This year at Christmas, those of us who are experiencing the “good” times in our lives, let's pray for those who are enduring the “hard” times. We all will have the hard times at some point, and here's where the friendship part comes in.
It is in the hard times that we can most easily recognize the love of God through our friends and family. So, if it's more of a 'bitter' time for you this Christmas, know that it won't last forever, and you are loved by many. If it's a more of a 'sweet' time for you this Christmas, treasure it, make precious memories to cherish, and please pray for those you know who because of poverty, sickness, death, etc need your prayers right now.
Thanks for reading the whole post! You deserve some sort of reward so go get another cookie, why not? IT'S CHRISTMAS! Much love to you all. Have a very merry Christmas!
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