Article May 3, 2004 Issue

Lessons from sea glass

By Constance L. Pierce

My friend and I took a drive and ended up at a beach. As we walked along the shoreline, she stooped to pick up something. She showed me what she had found—glass pieces that had been smoothed over with time and had a frosty look.

Within a short time, we collected quite a handful—some frosty white, green, turquoise, and bronze. After handing that day's harvest to me to start my own collection, she and I talked about the process the sharp, broken glass goes through in being tossed through the waves and burnished by the sand time and time again. The end product, smooth and harmless, is quite beautiful.

This spoke to me about being tossed around through life—how the process of experience smoothes the sharp edges of fear, willfulness, selfishness. This "smoothing" can become an essential part of revealing what was always there—our spiritual nature as God's child. And whether we do this willingly or are pushed into it, the end result is awesome.

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