On a recent trip to
Hawaii, my travel buddies and I found, at the Aloha Bowl Flea Market, an artist
who makes beautiful sea-glass jewelry. We all enjoyed looking through her stock
of so many lovely designs and colors. And yes, we all took some pieces home
with us. I joked that our jewelry was really recycled materials.
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| Some of my sea glass jewelry from Hawaii |
I have always loved sea
glass, and this experience made me think, “Why do I like it so much? It’s
really a fragment of something that was perhaps a useable object – a bottle,
dish or jar made of glass – but was broken and somehow ended up in the ocean.
Alone, the pieces are actually worthless. I certainly don’t save pieces when I
break a glass or bottle, no matter how colorful the glass is.
And though the colorful
pieces make pretty jewelry, those chips of glass are not precious or even semi-precious
stones. They have no inherent value. But in the hands of a gifted artist, the
glass becomes valuable.
Part of the appeal for
me in sea glass is that the sharp, broken edges are worn smooth by the churning
of the sea, sand, rocks and pebbles. I have no idea how long it may take for a
piece of glass to be worn smooth in the ocean and then to be washed ashore in
the waves. But I am sure it takes a while – perhaps months or years – maybe a
lifetime.
But once ashore and
retrieved by a creative person, a fragment of sea glass can become something
beautiful.
Is that what is
happening to us? The waves of life are wearing down our rough, sharp and
cutting edges, making us into the people we are meant to be. Kinder, less
critical of ourselves and others, more patient and compassionate, and certainly
more open hearted.
Another thing that makes
sea glass so intriguing is that it is always unique – like we are, different
from everyone else in our emotions, ambitions, thoughts and personalities, as
well as physically different. You cannot compare one piece of sea glass to
another expecting a perfect match with shape, size or even color. Although there
are similar colors they vary because of thickness and opacity.
What if we viewed
ourselves as valuable because of our uniqueness and stopped comparing ourselves
to others in looks, accomplishments, ideas and strengths? Comparison seems to
be a problem for many of us. We feel we just don’t measure up.
I believe God wants us
to view ourselves as beautiful, with most of our rough edges smoothed by our
life experiences and capable of letting God’s light shine through us, like a
piece of sea glass.
Next time you’re tempted
to compare yourself with another, remember that just like a piece of sea glass
in the hands of a creative artist, you are lovely, unique and useful to our
creative God. He knows exactly what setting to place you in to show your beauty
and let his light shine through you.
