Life's Tides

I smiled as they ran ahead of me with quick and bouncy steps, their feet making tiny footprints in the sand, which I followed to what they called “the perfect spot” and was consequently “our spot” on the beach.

My two nieces and one nephew loved the beach more than I did, even though I found that hard to believe.

I began laying out the blanket, the wind picking it up each time I tried to spread it out causing the checkered piece of cloth to fall in ways I did not want it to go.

I turned around, my back toward the wind, and caught the faces of my nieces and nephew in front of what was our magnificent sandcastle the day before.

No one could mistake their sorrow as they surveyed the toppled over towers, the spewed seaweed that had been used as decorations and the moat that no longer existed.

The tide had done its duty.

Their faces, just a few moments ago filled with joy, were now reflecting the disappointment I knew they felt.

Anxious to see smiles again, I said, “You know, this reminds me of a story.”

Now I had three sets of eager eyes staring back at me as we settled on the blanket.

“It is actually a story about a castle. A real castle with a real king, queen and a prince that was around your age,” I said pointing to my nephew.

This was a beautiful castle, its multiple turrets reaching high up into the air, brightly colored flags with the seal of the royal family fluttered in the breeze and a moat with sparkling blue water surrounded the castle.

One day the castle was attacked. The knights of the kingdom fought valiantly and were able to drive away the invaders.

But the castle was in ruin.

“How could this have happened?” the King moaned.

“Our castle will never be the same,” the Queen bewailed.

“We must rebuild,” the wise Prince stated.

“This will take a lifetime,” was the King’s answer.

“And we will never be able to rebuild it exactly the way it was before,” the Queen said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“This is true,” the Prince answered “But we can make it better than before.”

“I do not see how,” was the answer the Prince received.

In the days that followed, the King and Queen wallowed in their sorrow and defeat, wandering around the ruins of their home. Not a single reconstruction effort was made.

The weakened castle was attacked again two days later and then again the next.

It continued to be attacked because the more times enemies came, the more defenseless and weaker it became.

Finally, the King and Queen listened to the council of their son. They instructed the royal builders of the land to construct a wall.

After this was completed, the castle was rebuilt, even more glorious than the one before because it was not only beautiful, but it was stronger.

In the years that followed, enemies did come and clever ones were able to cause some damage to the wall, but through evaluation and careful planning, each time this happened the wall was able to be repaired.

Eventually, enemies gave up attacking the castle and this thing of beauty and strength remains standing today.

“Don’t get caught in the sadness that the tide attacked your castle,” I remarked at the end of my story. “You should rebuild yours, but maybe it should go behind that sand dune over there. It might provide better protection.”

Smiles were the response to my suggestion.

“And tomorrow you might find it more intact, but if some of it has toppled, don’t despair, think of what you can do differently and build again.”

As I watched them run off with pails and shovels in hand, I could not help but think about how this story relates to our own lives.

Tides of change, disappointment and sadness are going to come and shift our lives, maybe parts of our walls will topple over and we will stand there in the rubble of confusion, wondering what happened and what we should do next.

We cannot be caught in despair and through the guidance of the Master Planner, who is also the Master Builder, we can rebuild.

It might not look the same because we learn what needs to be adjusted and rethought to make it stronger and, in turn, it becomes more a thing of beauty.

Illustration by Jeanette Dillard