Opinion
By Jennifer St. Clair, 9-30-23
Another afternoon of amusement awaits me as I make my second daily trip to the crossover with a beach towel and bottle of water. I am ready to be entertained. How? Why, by people watching of course. It’s one of my favorite past times, shedding light on human relationships in big and little ways. Every combination imaginable can be seen walking on the sand as the slide show clicks forward, scene after scene. What an amazing exhibition of God’s masterful handiwork.
A smorgasbord of Humans BeComing parade in front of me as I position myself on the pink flamingo towel. Each has their own unique packaging. Some are lean and lanky with over sized heads. Others appear exact opposites with short, squatty legs to support a small upper torso. The occasional bowed legs briskly walk by me the same speed as the straight legs with perfect proportions do. Over weight, under weight. Curly hair, straight hair and no hair too. Blue eyes, blackish brown eyes and hazel ones verging on green. Whitest white skin to darkest black and plenty in between color these packages. So many wonderful combinations pass by me, each designed by the Divine to fit the Big Picture of life on Earth in absolute balance and beauty.
We are called homo sapiens, ‘wise person’ in Latin. Really? Are we wise persons? If so, how is it we point fingers at each other when all the while, three fingers point back at us? Do we become oblivious to the fact that God crammed the same ingredients into each of our ‘packages’? I have, you have, they have the very same organs, muscles, nerves, vessels, skeletal structures, etc. thus, in my mind, making us more alike than different. Why is it we fail to see the likeness in each other then, and instead look at the difference of the packaging?
Granted, God has gifted us Humans with free will which can and does change the perception of everything we witness, most especially other Humans! When will people ever realize we are ALL related? “Mitakuye oyasin,” say the Lakota. Translated it means, All relations are ONE. We Christians know how Jesus feels about the subject. He commands us to love one another as I have loved you. This phrase appears eleven times in the Bible, all in the New Testament.
Well…as you probably know by now, beach life provides me with opportunities galore to reflect on truths and principles of wisdom demonstrated by the many incredible sights and wonders I behold. Hopefully, you are able to glimpse a tiny portion of my blessings through my words and photography. I try diligently to be aware and in tune with how God is ordering my steps as I walk to the crossover each day.
“Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.”
Psalm 119:133
Jennifer St. Clair is a pianist, award-winning songwriter, composer, artist, author and photographer. She relocated to Jacksonville Beach, Florida from the north Georgia mountains in 2014. Currently she serves as Pianist at Amelia Plantation Chapel. Her solo piano compositions can be found on sheetmusicplus.com. For more information:
www.jenniferstclair.com
