THE UNEXPECTED by Kathleen Szmit

This evening I diverted from my regular walking route. There is a gated path along the road on which I walk, and tonight I went behind the gate. I wanted to see what was down the path behind that gate.

After winding my way through the soft, sandy terrain, I stumbled into a large sand pit. Large rock outcroppings sat in the midst of soft, sandy cliffs. It was stunning and a little daunting.

Like a child, I scrambled among the rocks and sand, loving the feel of freedom. Then I continued walking down a side path. What I found baffles me still.

I live near the ocean, several miles from the beach. Where I was walking was nowhere near the water; no shoreline in sight. Nonetheless, as I ambled up a slight hill, I found myself looking upon thousands of seashells strewn across the landscape. Some were crushed or broken, but many were whole and had only begun to become bleached by the sun.

I looked intently at my surroundings, trying to discern exactly how these objects of the sea had come to be in this random location so far from the sea. Where they came from wasn't the mystery. How they had come to be there in such vast quantities completely stymied me.

To me, the seashells in the middle of nowhere symbolized the vast power of God's Love. When you least expect to find it, there it is. In the end, it doesn't matter how it got there. What matters is that it's there.