Circles in the Sand

            The beach beckoned to me this morning, a stronger call at the moment than the knowledge I could buy a good amount of fresh tuna down at the Farmer’s Market.  But the wind was relatively calm, the tide was low, and the sun was shining. 

            As I broke out of the dunes, I was washed with the peace of the shore.  The warm sand between my toes, the salt air, the calm….a moment of rest and respite in a busy and somewhat stressful week.  Obviously the call to a walk was a whisper from God…”I have something for you!”

       

     For as I neared the rocks of the point, I saw a crowd of people and remembered, ‘It is a weekend!  Low tide!  The Circles in the Sand man* could be at work!’  And sure enough, I found a massive labyrinth etched in the sand, an intricate path winding in and around itself, center circles decorated with a variety of sculptures and drawings – yins and yangs, stone pillars, sun faces, aboriginal hands.  There were plenty of people, yet I felt alone with God.  As I walked the path….the following poem wrote itself:

The path in the sand winds and turns;

I enter, knowing not if I go in the ‘out’,

Knowing not where the way will lead.

It twists and turns, rotates, and winds back upon itself.

I cannot see the whole at once.

Just steps right before me;

Individual steps that drive me forward.

Such is life?

We know not the future, just the day.

We are called to trust, to follow,

To take each step in faith.

Yet scattered along the way,

I find circles of holy places:

A Joshua tower of stones;

An aboriginal symbol of God;

The Sun. The Son?

Ying and Yang.

Centers for refocus.

Holy reminders of God. 

My footsteps are silent on the shifting sand,

But the music of the waves, the gulls,

And the laughter of children

Drift on the breeze.

Step by step I wind my way;

In and out of the rocks,

Near to the waves and back.

I pass another center, another holy place,

And once again reach out and feel God’s presence.

Thank you, Lord, for he* who creates

The Circles in the Sand.

For he* who shares your gifts so freely.

His art is God-art, an act of celebration and joy

Of who you are.

Holy Circles in the Sand. Amen. 

*HE is Denny Dyke, the circles sand artist.  See more at http://www.circlesinthesand.us/

And PS….I did get my tuna also!