Abandoned wreckage

Tiny white caps glisten in the sun yet, as a whole, the sea still.  As the sun beats down upon the water, the eye blinded by something protruding from the ocean's surface.  Onlookers peer from the shore unaware of what it is their eye falls upon.  Gulls bob on the surface of the water as they rest in its gentle wake.  Thinking a silhouette of a gull against the backdrop of the illuminated horizon, onlookers dismiss their initial inquiry and go about their business on shore.  The constant movement of the ocean almost camouflages the juxtaposed wreckage for the salt water oxidizes the metal; no longer shiny, the wreckage ever more difficult to decipher from shore.  And so the tides change, one day they violently crash along the shore and the next they surrender to the placid wake of a gentle breeze.  The gulls continue to use the abandoned wreckage as a home; creating a natural gathering and resting place for the scavenger birds.  Though hundreds walk the shores, none take notice of the wreckage for those who visit in the morning see only pockets of darkness upon the surface of the ocean and write off the darkened spots as shadows casted by the rising sun.  Those who visit at dusk note only the vibrant hues of the setting sun, they focus attention on the brilliant color of the sky blending into the ocean at the horizon and so the wreckage continues to go unnoticed.  Now harshly weathered by the water, the abandoned wreckage almost impossible to see with the naked eye for the busyness of the shore mimics the hurried practiced lives of the many onlookers; they look but see nothing for before their eyes are clouds of distraction, angst and necessity.  Skewed priorities create their own projection of the horizon line, an abandoned wreckage not withstanding.  Years pass, the wreckage remains hidden in plain site, a resting place for the gulls.  One onlooker stops in the mid morning sun, she gazes at the wreckage with wonderment.  Unsure of what she sees, she asks a fellow onlooker who immediately dismisses her question.  With the sun still rising over the ocean, she sits and waits, all the while intensely gazing into the sea, trying to decipher between casted shadows, bobbing gulls and the abandoned wreckage.  The night begins to fall, the same onlooker still on the shore.  The brilliant pink sky meets the dark blue ocean at the horizon.  The back light of the sky illuminates the wreckage in such a way that the onlooker identifies the protrusion as a wreckage.  Intrigued, the onlooker decides to explore the wreckage.  In the morning sun, a one person boat is placed in gentle waves.  As the onlooker paddles out to the wreckage she wonders what it is she is about to encounter.  As she nears the wreckage the gulls scatter creating a scene for the people left on the shore.  The woman continues to row toward the wreckage, the sun beating down yet the waters ever calm.  When she reaches the wreckage, it looks only like a small jetty, placed with precision yet weathered by the ride.  Upon further investigation, the onlooker discovers numbers written in white, those very much faded from the sun and salt water.  She get closer attempting to distinguish the letters and discovers it is not a jetty but the bow of a ship.  Finally, she is able to decipher the writing APR 1976 UGH.  The woman returns to shore only to find onlookers questioning her motives.  With a smile and nod, she exits the beach with the intention to return for further exploratory purposes.  That night she investigates her findings and discovers a ship with the registration numbers she discovered on the protrusion had disappeared on the seas many years ago.  It was a ship of great importance for it carried on her beauteous gems and precious cargo.  Intrigued, the onlooker decided to further investigate this wreckage.  She gathered the necessary gear and returned to the wreckage.  Equipped with diving gear, she submerged in the ocean unaware of what she would find in the abandoned wreckage.  Though the ship was alluring, at first nothing seemed of worth; just broken wreckage creating a safe haven for schools of tiny fish.  She continued her exploration and that is when she found small pockets of unharmed wreckage, it was as if a whole cabinet had slowly sunk to the ground, placed with ease.  The onlooker, now a vested explorer, uses her tools to open the untouched cabinet and is amazed at her discovery.  There, on the ocean's bed lie precious stones.  With care, she places the stones in her nap sack and returns to the surface of the ocean.  Excited by her discovery she returns to her boat and rows to shore.  Fellow onlookers gaze at her sack and question her motives.  Politely, she responds with, "just our for a good dive", and exits the conversation.  Later, she has her treasure appraised as rare stones of priceless worth.  Never does she reveal her discovery.  She keeps the precious stones in her possession, not to hoard them; rather to celebrate their intense beauty.  She often visits the wreckage for it instills in her a sense of solace, a sense of peace, for its undiscovered beauty comes alive in her eyes.  Whether on shore or among the wreckage, the abandoned wreckage is not a wreckage to this onlooker rather a measure of beauty.  As the sun shines upon the ocean, the oxidized bow glistens in its rays and the onlooker smiles for she knows she has discovered the treasure of the century and intends to continue to discover its intense beauty.  

Faith dwells within us, faith our intense beauty if we only stop and search, stop and discover how to maneuver through the wreckage, the baggage of this life.  We can become the oxidized coating, weather by past experiences, tarnished by hurtful interactions, overlooked by frightening memories or we can become the richness of the treasure dwelling within, the beauty of the precious stones God intended as our purpose.  Stop and discover, stop and explore, if not your own world of faith, the world of another and celebrate their beauty, celebrate their richness and your life, too, will become rich.