The Strangest Recycling Program

     That’s my grandson Oak reaching toward a stash of shells we found strewn across a beach near his home in Alabama. He and I were observing the strangest recycling program - gorgeous shells washed up and ground into sand by the force of wind, waves, and feet.     
     It’s mysterious to me why God trashes part of creation when it’s at its peak in beauty. But then, I thought about how sand becomes the building block for construction, the raw material to create concrete and glass.     
     It’s a grand recycling scheme, something that I suppose we’ve all undergone. Did you ever get demoted? Swept out of a high-profile position into something less noticeable? It feels like a drop in status, but perhaps it’s actually a stepping stone into something closer to what you were made to do.             
     Like a seashell, sometimes I’ve felt washed up on life’s shore, crushed in my aspirations by the wind, waves, and feet of others. Perhaps I was getting repurposed. Perhaps I was, as Jesus described, like a seed that must be buried before it can sprout into leaves, flowers, and fruit. Being recycled can be painful. Often it demands risk, as Peter Mayer describes in this song about pumpkins that face being repurposed out of their patch.