Years ago our family went to Catalina Island for a weekend getaway. It was quite a fun trip. The kids enjoyed our hotel room.
We played putt-putt-golf.
We watched the fishies from a glass-bottom boat.
We paddled ocean kayaks for miles.
We soaked-up the sun.
And, we ate ice cream!One of the activities we enjoyed on the beach was building sand castles. Everyone worked very hard to make the biggest and best sand castle.
Sand was piled eight feet high and then carefully carved out. Some were very simple and small, hastily put together in the form of a castle, but otherwise not very ornate.
You can see, however, that even while she was in the process of creation, entropy was already working against her. Her beautiful sand castle was falling apart. The wind, water, and children touching it were breaking it down faster than she could repair it.
Of course, she didn't really build it, she found it, and claimed it for her own -- her "Princess Castle" -- in spite of disrepair.
I think life is like building sand castles. We work so hard to accomplish things, getting food, clothing, shelter, and all the necessities of life. We try to clean up the house, fix things, put a new deck in the backyard, and generally work against the constant and irrepressible force of entropy. No matter what we build, whether a sand castle or a nation, all will come to naught. The writer of Ecclesiastes said it wisely:
"Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
When Jesus was visiting His friends, Mary and Martha, Martha was going around the house, cleaning, preparing the meal, and making sure everyone was comfortable. When she began to feel overwhelmed she went in to Jesus where Mary was asking questions and learning from Him and asked Him to have Mary help out with the preparations. Jesus denied her request saying, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42) I think the point is that while Martha was busy with the preparations, she was missing some important instruction.
I have often found myself "in the thick of thin things," as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland says. Getting busy with the stuff I feel I need to do in order to survive, I can lose sight of what is really important. I believe one reason we are on the Earth is to learn and grow in all ways. Often, my efforts to accommodate others leaves me doing a lot, without growth or learning. For example, yesterday I really wanted to go to the Temple, but Charly changed her plans and stayed with me, and Micah had a luncheon he wanted me to attend. I supported them, but I wonder what I missed by not going to the House of the Lord and sitting at His feet to hear His word. She was learning things of Eternal worth, while all of Martha's efforts would be lost.
All that we do of the world is building sand castles. We can make them large, wonderful, and ornate, or small and simple, but, either way, they will come tumbling down eventually. Or, we can be as Mary and choose to spend our time learning. The things that don't go away, even when we do, are the people we love and the knowledge we gain. While Martha was taking care of things, Jesus indicated that Mary had chosen a good thing that Martha lacked -- learning.
I know I have wasted a lot of time building sand castles that have all gone "the way of all the Earth." Only now am I beginning to look for things of Eternal value. The things I do, whether building a house, cleaning, preparing meals, or running a business can teach me the truths of life. I can also bless the lives of others by teaching them and supporting their growth, instead of just accommodating them. If I do this, even my sand castles will be a means for me to learn and grow, and I will gain Eternal Life.
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