An Artist....Or something....

 Despite warnings that thunderstorms and rain would ruin our first two days in Hilton Head, it has been largely wonderful, with storms all night, but only smatters of rain here and there during the day. We had plenty of time to go on long bike rides, and play in humongous waves, courtesy of Tropical Storm Bertha churning in the south Atlantic. And, best of all, I had time to make my first sand sculpture of 2014. As I sculpted, a gaggle of small children came by.
"Wow!" they cried, "That is an awesome seahorse!!!"
"Thanks," I said, as I patted it smooth and added more details.
"Are you an artist or something?"
"Yes," I said, "Something."
"How do you do that?"
I grabbed my sand shovel and sketched a quick outline of a little seahorse in the sand.
"First you do the outline, like this...then you dig a trench around it, like this... and pile the sand in the middle, and then you shape it. It's easy."
"I'm gonna do that," said one child.
"I made a turtle once," said another.
"That's a good way to start," I said, "Turtles are not too hard."
The children brought their mother over, who asked me a few more questions, and basically MADE MY DAY. My sand creations are my little contribution to beach-goers joy.

I know that when I make them, in a matter of hours, they will be gone. The creations will perhaps evoke a few smiles, and then the tide will erase my work, leaving an empty canvas for the next "artist...or something." So...why bother? A butterfly only lives for a week. Seems so silly, in a way. To go to all that trouble and effort to metamorphose out of a caterpillar only to live splendor so briefly before croaking. Why bother?

Here is my guess.

God is making a very important point, or maybe even a few. First, our existence on earth is not what it is all about. In the grand scheme of eternity, we are just a blip on the screen. There must be a greater purpose that we cannot fathom from our brief, material sojourn here. Which leads to the second point. While we are here, beauty is important. The duration of beauty is not what matters, but the mere presence of beauty. God must value it very much or...He wouldn't bother. But He does. He makes the butterfly, for a brief moment, beautiful.

And God is clearly an Artist...or Something.

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Psalm 50:2

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

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Inspiring new story of dogs, faith, and God: 
Bark of the Covenant by Vicky Kaseorg
http://www.amazon.com/Bark-Covenant-Vicky-Kaseorg-ebook/dp/B00LNA7T4G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407155047&sr=8-1&keywords=kaseorg+the+bark+of+the+covenant