I once heard God compared to a mother who took her three young children to the seaside on a summer’s day. The children spent most of their time on the beach playing in the sand. Each of them built a sand castle, according to his or her ability. When they had finished their work their mother came to look at what they had done. She praised each of them individually for their achievements. On returning home the mother fed her children, washed them and put them to bed. She then sat down to relax. She was pleased with the day at the seaside, pleased mainly for two reasons; one, that her children were safe; two, that they enjoyed themselves. And in the meantime the tide came in and washed away the sand castles her children had built.
It is November, the month when we remember the dead. Remembering the dead is good for them and it is good for us. It helps the dead on their journey to God and it helps us to get things into perspective. One way of getting things into perspective is to ask ourselves this question: When our earthly life is over what will we leave behind us and what will we take with us? Among the things we will definitely leave behind us are the sand castles we have built. Our sandcastles are our property, our possessions, our projects. While perhaps good in themselves these things are transient. Like the children’s sandcastles on the beach they will be washed away by the tide of death.
One thing that will not be washed away by the tide of death is the relationships we have built in life. A reflection in ‘The Little Book of Calm’ hits the nail on the head: “If you tend to get overly serious about your work and your responsibilities remind yourself that the most common deathbed regrets have to do with neglected relationships, not with unfinished business.” Relationships are the most important thing in life. It is the investment we make in relationships that we will take with us into God’s other world beyond the grave.
The poet William Blake once said: “We are put on earth a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love.” The purpose of life is to learn the art of loving. It is our commitment to relationships that helps us learn the art of loving. When we come before the Lord in death the thing he will be most interested in will be the love we carry in our hearts.