As I went out along the beach today,
the soft white sand in between my toes,
the wind blowing through my hair,
Christian music on my iPod,
I let my mind wander,
and I let my heart open up.
I wasn’t looking for answers,
or so I thought,
because as I walked along,
they came subtly,
quietly,
and my eyes were no longer blind.
For as I began to pick up shells,
I noticed that I became picky,
only bothering to even quickly look at,
or possibly even pick up,
the ones that caught my eye.
I kicked aside broken ones,
passed over ugly ones,
walked on dirty ones,
and only looked for ones that were intact,
pretty,
appealing,
beautiful.
How many times have I done the same thing to people?
How many times do we pass by people,
people who are in need,
who are broken,
who may be “intact” but are “not right,”
people who are “not appealing to the eye?”
And as I listened to my “Christian” music,
was I not being a hypocrite?
I was worshiping God,
while turning a blind eye on His creation,
His people made in His image.
Is loving everyone not what we are taught?
I kept on walking with this on my mind,
and as I had walked miles over the sand,
I finally turned around,
and was hit over the head once more.
I looked down the endless stretch of the beach
and looked at my footprints,
the only ones for as far as the eye could see them.
The ones near me were outlined perfectly,
the curves and arches of my feet,
the imprints of my toes and heels.
As I walked back,
I began to notice quickly how where I had just been,
maybe minutes before,
the outlines were fading fast.
My footprints were becoming small potholes in the sand.
the tide,
already beginning to wash them away;
the wind,
doing the exact same thing.
The farther I got back,
the more they became nothing more than a slight dimple,
a slight bruise in the surface.
Not only that,
but I noticed how my path was straight,
yet not without detours along the way.
My footprints would wander off the straight path,
to one side they would go,
only to be blown over with sand by the wind,
and on the other side,
they were drowned in the water.
As I finally reached the beginning,
where my footprints were already faded,
I was enlightened.
Is not our life exactly like the footprints as well?
Straight,
until we wander off the path
and are blown every which way,
or drowned in sin?
And footprints that were there,
only moments before,
are already fading.
Is not life just like that too?
Short-lived,
always fading before our eyes?
We take advantage of it,
thinking that it will be around forever,
never bothering to think that today could be the end.
But as we pass over the “unappealing shells,”
walk astray from the “straight path,”
and watch our “paths fade in front of our own eyes,”
is not our life exactly like that?
I went for a walk along the beach today,
not expecting to be taught a life lesson,
not looking for answers.
But they came to me,
subtly,
quietly,
and I was no longer upon a white sand beach,
I was walking through my life.
Author notes
I wrote this poem exactly as it says, when I was walking on the beach today before a soccer game. I was just walking to clear my mind and possibly find some shells, but I found so much more. It seems that we always find what we are looking for when we are not looking. I felt that today as I walked along the beach, God was using it as a time for me to learn some lessons about life. I believe that being able to write is a gift from God for me, and I believe that there are a lot of poems that I write that He is the one who puts the words in my mind and heart because I just cannot believe that I would be able to write some of what I do. I feel that same way with this poem because the words were coming to me as I was walking, and I wanted to write down what I was experiencing while I was out walking but didn't know how I was going to do it. As I sat down here to write though, the words came spilling out onto my paper and I had this poem written in less than 10 minutes. It's just me writing freely, so I yes, it was quick, but I needed to get my thoughts out.
A contest entry
- Your most personal & meaningful poem from ( 2008 ) by justgot2loveme.
1500 points, ended December 11, 2008, 54 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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You learned so much along your walk. Maybe other should walk along the beach too. Life is exactly as you wrote about in this piece. We do tend to over look many things in life, and we don't always give life and all it's glory a fair chance. That is pretty sad. I enjoyed your story.
Thanks for sharing and good luck.
Justgot2loveme
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Lovely Walk!
If we have open eyes & ears we can 'hear' Him & he can teach us life's lessons through His creation! This is a wonderful meditative & illustrative piece. Our most precious writes come from His inspiration & guidance & when we scribe what we hear! Bravo for this sharing!
. Rewarded 6
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I tihnk you've found some great answers on the beach, and become enlightened enough about the way the universe works to have penned a wonderful poem about it. I think God works like this, when you're not waiting for inspiration, it strikes in the strangest of ways and opens your eyes up to the mysteries that you could barely see before. It also teaches you to be kinder and to be more open hearted in the quietest of ways. Good job being spiritual enough to find these things out there on such an ordinary day. And bravo for such a well penned poem!
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i loved that ending!
glad i took the time to read the authors notes too..
memorable right... the serenity just flows with your words..
. Rewarded 4
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This is so true, and u know as much as we may already know this, we don't actually pay attention to how we live our lives, not paying attention to what isn't appealing. Great poem so true.
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