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Lessons from the sea: Shifting sands

Story:The term "shifting sands" is more than the title of a lovely song, more than a mere expression to describe a discovery made by scientists probing the mysteries of Mars.
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Story:The term "shifting sands" is more than the title of a lovely song, more than a mere expression to describe a discovery made by scientists probing the mysteries of Mars. Shifting sands are the reality of what happens to the beaches lining earth's oceans, the result of the restlessness of creation.

British Columbia is fortunate in that most of its shorelines are composed of erosion resistant bedrock or else they are located in relatively sheltered coves or fjords. Not so for beaches near the Delta-Surrey-Vancouver area. There the responsibility of maintaining flood walls is assumed by residents and/or municipalities. Closer to home (for me, at least), some sections of Eastern Vancouver Island as well beautiful Savary Island don't have that kind of protection. Along parts of our seashore and on Savary (visible from Powell River) wind, tides and storms all work to move the sand, grain by grain, until the landscape is changed. Sometimes shifts in beach landscaping are easily observed; other times, it takes a wild storm to so disturb the terrain that it's noticeable.

I've often wondered why people choose to build their homes so close to danger. How could the attraction of viewing the splendour of a sunset from the living room window make one oblivious to the costs that come with building on shifting sand?

One day while musing on the subject, I heard the words of a song. New to me, they were so powerful that I can't get them out of my mind: "It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to grey/ Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid when you give yourself away. People never crumble in a day."

Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory!

"The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (II Peter 2:9)

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