Christian Life 37 - Sand Dollars

One day last week, I posted the following comment on Facebook:

"Assuming anyone ever reads my posts, I'll probably lose friends over this one, but here goes: I'm starting to think that anyone spending that much time fretting over a temporal nation might not be doing enough to build an eternal kingdom.  Or am I alone in this? ☺"

A dear friend and brother made the following comment (reprinted with permission): "I'm good with God.  He certainly doesn't need me to flatter him with constant prayer/adoration/incantations/whatever.  We're solid.  Right now I'm worried about the Nazis...and I am pretty darn sure God doesn't want oppressive fascism for his many children in America...so I am serving God by helping and caring about people other than myself. I kinda thought that was the essence of Jesus' teachings.  I'm not in this life just to save my own ass/soul."

It may not be important, but I feel compelled to point out that this brother is not a "virtual" Facebook friend, but a real-life friend that I have known and loved for many years.  He has had my back when I most needed someone there.  I have shared pie and coffee with him on many occasions, and look forward to doing so again.  If we ever found ourselves disagreeing, I would have no problem at all in simply agreeing to disagree and have another bite of pie and a laugh.  He also happens to be very good at laughs.

 

 I received a text from another dear brother this morning saying that he intended to attend his local "No Kings" protest and assuring me that he intended to behave properly and stay safe.  It's important to note that I am typing this on June 13, 2025.  What both of these brothers refer to is the fact that America's sitting president has announced that tomorrow, June 14, is his birthday and, in honor, he intends to hold a military parade in our capital city, a move that even many of his most ardent supporters have referred to as despotic.  In response, many opposing groups have announced their plans to conduct protests - labeled "No Kings" - across the country.  The president has said that any protestors will be arrested.  Both intriguing and perhaps telling that he used the word "protestors;" not "rioters" nor "insurrectionists" nor "anarchists," but "protestors," an action protected by the First Amendment to our Constitution.  It is important to mention the date because, at this point, neither I nor anyone else knows how this will play out.  By the time you read this, you will.  I should think that the most dire predictions will not likely come to pass, but, frankly, I've incorrectly said that so many times in the last few years that I shall, on this occasion, hold my tongue.  I'll come back to this story momentarily.  Before I do, I'd like to circle back to the first one.

 

In a word-for-word review of my brother's comment, I can't find anything with which I disagree.  Of course God needs nothing from me.  God is, after all, GOD!  Also, I agree that God doesn't wish oppression for God's children in America or elsewhere.  Yes, helping and serving others is the essence of our lives as taught by Jesus (and many others).  And, no, we're not in this life to save our own asses or souls (a good thing, because I could never do it anyway).  The only point of contention I may have, if I would allow myself to have one at all, is the rather nationalist tone my brother takes, which is partly also why I will not be joining my other brother at the No Kings demonstration.

I completely agree that we are witnessing an historic moment in the United States, and I agree that one can easily project a good deal of suffering being inflicted on many of our most vulnerable in the near future as a result of the changes underway.  And I grieve for those people, as I grieve for all people made to needlessly suffer by their brothers and sisters in all places and at all times.  The fact that, as a species, we prefer competition over cooperation and prefer divisions in lieu of inclusion is a shame we all share, and we are are all of us called on to change this by choosing humility in preference to pride, by learning the facts of impermanence, suffering and emptiness, by working through the steps of self-annihilation.  But I prefer to be at least somewhat pragmatic about my approach.

The situation currently on display is historically quite familiar.  We've been down this road before, and it is easy to see that the solution this time will be the same one that has served so many times in the past (i.e., a military solution).  Unfortunately, I cannot be part of such a solution.  I do not have the wherewithal.  How can I affect the political climate of a nation, when I can't even get anyone's attention on this blog?  This doesn't mean, however, that I can't help build the kingdom.

 

I have no idea who originally wrote this story.  I've heard it countless times over the years in countless variations.  Sometimes the characters' ages are reversed, sometimes the sand dollars are replaced by starfish.  Doesn't matter.  Doesn't change the meaning one bit.

One night there was a terrible storm at sea.  The next morning, after the storm had passed, a young man could be seen walking along the beach which was covered in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of sand dollars that had been washed ashore in the storm.  As the young man walked, he passed an older gentleman who was passionately collecting sand dollars one by one and tossing them back into the water.

The young man watched for a while, then called out to the old man. "Mister," he yelled.  "What do you think you're doing?  There are thousands and thousands of sand dollars here and you're just one man.  You can't possibly think you're making any difference?"

The old man only smiled and reached down to pick up another sand dollar.  Tossing it into the surf, he turned back to the younger man and, still smiling serenely, softly answered, "made a difference to that one!"

 

Fred Rogers was beloved by almost everyone who ever met him, either in life of through the medium of television.  Everyone, that is, except his entourage.  They were often infuriated with him.  It seems Fred had a problem with punctuality.  He was known to miss flights because he would pass someone whom he found interesting in the airport terminal and stop, ask them some leading questions, and spend hours listening as they told their stories.  Fred lived in the present while his publicist, et al were trying to live either in the past or in the future.

 

I don't know this of anyone, much less the two brothers mentioned in this post, but I can't help but wonder if sometimes people jump on a political or social issue just because it's easy.  Shouting out derisive remarks at a protest rally or online is extremely unlikely to make any significant difference to anyone, but it does make the shouter feel better about themselves, like they've done their duty for God and country, so now they can go back to their lives with a clear conscious and without actually having gotten their hands dirty.  I sometimes wonder if we engage in pompous and very public (but ultimately futile) rhetoric to relieve ourselves of the duty of looking straight into the eye of our neighbor.  In short, I sometimes wonder if we perhaps mistake smugness for serenity.

I can't change the direction of the country.  I don't have a national platform, nor do I think it likely I shall ever have one.  When I do speak - such as this blog - I am aware of no one who listens to my diatribes, much less changes anything as a result.  But I can offer people I encounter a genuine "I'm glad you're alive" smile.  I can refuse to get angry when a driver cuts me off in traffic, thinking instead of him "maybe he has a really bad case of diarrhea."  Like Mr. Rogers, I can take the time to shake a panhandler's hand and listen to their story.  I can keep a case of bottled water in my car during the summer months and pass them out to homeless people I pass sitting on the sidewalk in sweltering heat.  Is it enough?  In the long run, will it make a difference?  In a global sense, no.  But I believe it might make a difference to that one.  Further, I don't believe good works will help us reach God, but rather, if, through enlightenment and self-annihilation, we let God enter us and act through us, good works will be the natural result.

 Finally, I wonder about the young man in our story of the sand dollars.  What did he do after the story ended?  Did he learn something from the old man's words and pass it on?  Did he continue on his way, thinking how foolish the old man was?  Or did he start picking up sand dollars and throwing them into the sea, doubling the number of those to whom a difference was made? 

I'm adding a paragraph here because, when I first posted this, the responses I got were to the effect that this is all too disjointed, that people couldn't easily follow it.  So allow my to illuminate.  Going onto social media or into the streets to protest national policy is certainly someone's right, and I do not discourage one from doing so, but it is almost certainly to be ineffective, if change is, indeed, the goal.  What is effective, albeit far less self-glorifying, is the change one can make among one's small group of personal contacts.  Still not plain enough?  How about this: grandstanding only ever changes policy if the politicians themselves want change, but it does a remarkable job of boosting the protestor's ego with platitudes such as "well, at least I did something (however pointless)!"  In contrast, doing small, anonymous acts among the needy within easy reach, while providing no glory to the giver, certainly makes positive changes for those involved. 

Pax