“The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America – our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal.” – Ronald Reagan
We all desire the spiritual revival of our world, but we get depressed when we look at ourselves in the mirror and see all our defects and sins? How could I possibly change the world when I’m such a mess?
My friend, Jeff Schriefer, sent me an email last week about the Glass Beach in Fort Bragg in California. It speaks about nature’s healing ways.
In the early 1900s, Fort Bragg, California residents threw their household garbage over the cliffs above what is now called Glass Beach, including old cars, and their household garbage, which of course included lots of glass.
Beginning in 1949, the area around Glass Beach became a public dump, and locals referred to it as The Dumps. Sometimes fires were lit to reduce the size of the trash pile (up to 30 feet high). However in 1967, the city leaders closed the area. Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to try to correct the damage, but without success.
Over the next 30 years the pounding waves cleaned the beach, by breaking down everything but glass and pottery. The pounding waves washed the trash up and down, back and forth. Tons of polished, broken glass were created by the pounding surf. These smoothened, colored glass particles then settled along the sea shore in millions, and so a magnificent beach was formed. The name was changed from “The Dump” to what we currently know as “The Glass Beach.”
Jeff reflected that God does the same with our lives: healing our lost and broken souls and turning them into something beautiful.
Let’s not give up on ourselves, but allow God to polish our rough edges. If He can change us, then He can change our world too.
