Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Friday, March 5
By Steve Richardson, March 18, 2018
A Lesson From Seaweeds
Read: Mark 4:30-32
One of my brothers, Joe, is a marine biologist. For as long as I can remember, he’s had a passion for all things marine. One of my earliest memories as a toddler was going with him to “fish” in a tiny run-off creek in our backyard after heavy rains. All we ever caught were leaves, but Joe still deemed it fishing.
In his teens, Joe discovered the renowned oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. Even I was fascinated by the images and films of Cousteau diving among marine life like whales, sharks, dolphins and giant octopi.
When Joe entered graduate school to attain his doctorate at North Carolina, I was certain he, too, would ultimately be diving among the great species of the seas to study their habits.
However, Joe’s dissertation dealt with the life cycles of seaweeds. Seaweed?! To me, that was the most mundane, obscure, seemingly purposeless thing the sea could render.
“Not so,” says Joe. Seaweeds are essential to our oceans’ ecosystems. They’re a food source for many forms of marine life, including fish. They’re hosts and hiding places for protection of other species. Although seaweeds lack the charisma of great sea animals that share the spotlight in documentaries and coffee table books, they serve a grand and important role for all marine life.
Isn’t that similar for all of us as people of God? Even those who our society may label the least, the lowest, the weakest, the obscure – in God’s eyes each of us has purpose, meaning and a role to play. To God, we all have worth and value. To God no one is least or low or weak or obscure. Rather, we are all vital to the enhancement of God’s creation and kingdom.
Prayer
“God of the sparrow, God of the whale… How does the creature say Awe?” With great gratitude for your grace, we pray you remind us that such grace is unconditional for all people and we pray you grant us the wisdom to share it likewise. Amen.
