Life is a Beach

There is an old phrase, "Life is a Beach" which obviously refers to the sand and sunshine associated with going to the beach. I experienced a rather different beach this weekend on my visit to South Haven, Michigan.

It was a gray sky that greeted me as I headed into town for the evening. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed out to the pier hoping to beat the incoming storm. The wind was already blowing pretty hard as the sun was going down. The waves were coming in and crashing up against the side of the pier. The wind was blowing sand into the air; it was stinging my cheeks and filling my ears.

But there was such beauty in the brewing storm, it drew me out onto the pier for about 30 minutes as the sun set. The power of the waves, the play of limited light in the clouds; all beautiful to me.

There is a lighthouse at the end of the South Haven pier, a point of safety for boats coming into the harbor. I realized later that you don't really need a lighthouse without the darkness or the storm. I wondered if it isn't like that for us. If our days were all sand and sunshine we would never have to look for the light.

So when it seems that the sands of this life are stinging my face and the waves are crashing up against me, I can be reminded to look up for the light so that I can find safe passage through the storm.

"Life is a Beach" but the beach isn't always calm.