Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli

Author:Michael Yaconelli [Yaconelli, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Living / Personal Growth
Publisher: The Navigators
Published: 2003-09-16T00:00:00+00:00

Six years ago our family spent the weekend together on the Oregon coast. On Saturday all eight of us decided to spend the afternoon walking along the water. During our walk my oldest son, who was twenty-five at the time, ran up to me and said excitedly, “Let’s build a sand castle.” It must have been twenty years since either my wife or I had built a sand castle. Now we were excited. Our other son, then twenty-three, tied his T-shirt to a pole and stuck it just behind where we were to build the castle. He then set the challenge: “We must build a sand castle strong enough to keep the incoming water from knocking down the flag. If the flag hits the sand, then it turns to poison and we’re all dead.” We all accepted the challenge.

We were actively building a three-walled sand castle when I happened to look up and see a man walking down the beach with his son, who looked to be about five years old. I thought, How can we build a sand castle without a little boy? Without thinking further, I left the building site, ran over to the boy, fell down on my knees, and pleaded, “Little boy, we need your help desperately. See that flag down there? We have to build a sand castle strong enough to keep the water from knocking down the flag or the sand is poison and we’re all dead.” You should have seen the look on the little boy’s face. He looked up at his father as if he was thinking, Dad, you warned me about people like this. Let’s get out of here. Neither the boy nor his father acknowledged my request, and they kept on walking down the beach.

After I had returned to our sand castle, I caught a glimpse of the little boy again. His dad let him run to the edge of the water, and he was playing tag with the waves. He would follow the water out and then run as it chased him up the beach. Unfortunately, he misjudged the waves and was knocked down by a surprise breaker. His father yelled, “Andy, get out of the water now.” Andy, of course, was trying to do just that when I ran over to help him. I don’t know what overcame me, but I found myself saying, “Andy, you are already wet and muddy. You might as well come help us.” He looked at his father, then at me, and then back at his father. Finally, he said, “Okay!”

We were all working desperately because the tide was coming in, when one of the kids yelled, “Look out!” Instinctively, without anyone saying a word, we all bunched around the flag, eight of us in a group hug as the water washed over the first wall, smashed down the second wall, and rolled over the third wall—but the flag remained standing. We all let out a yell, including Andy. It was a great moment, and we all felt like kids again.

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