TITLE: BABY TURTLES AND SEAGULLS

Everyday holds a learning moment. There lies locked all around us opportunities to grow, to become more aware, and to awaken to our Father’s world.

One such natural event I have only viewed on TV—the scene of baby turtles struggling to get to the safety of the ocean only to be eaten by seagulls diving out of the sky. The poor little turtles don’t even know what hits them as they become lunch for a scavenging bird.

The turtles that survive the aerial assault make it to the safety of the water only to face more predators in the food chain. Most of the baby turtles don’t make it to adulthood, in fact, most become food for sharks and other turtle-hungry fish.

It’s not hard to look at our lives that way. Some babies die in the womb. Some children loose their lives to disease. Some teens die tragically in car accidents. Some of us don’t survive our twenties.


Many disappear in their thirties. When we hit our forties our bodies begin to show signs of wear, and before you know it, a new assault begins on our lives as aging sets in.

Seems our lives are so fragile and precarious. Many of us spend our time looking for meaning and dodging seagulls! Some of us just keep waddling to the perceived safety of the water never giving a thought to the danger from the sky over our head.

I don’t know about you, but it leaves me scratching my head as to the meaning of life. Who am I? Why am I here? What is this all about?

King Solomon was considered the wisest man on earth at during his lifetime. This is what how he summarized human life:

“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun…the fate of the fool will also overtake me. What then do I gain by being wise? I said in my heart ‘this to is meaningless’. For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die….so I hated life… ”.


In my observation of sea turtles and seagulls I shared with you how I might see life. Solomon also shares with us his view of the human condition. You may have another view and someone else may have a totally different view. But one thing is true for all of us; we are seeing life from the inside out.

There is a serious amount of pain inside most of us and that internal pain colors the way we face each day. It sometimes determines how we will relate to the people around us.

The wisest man on earth had an itch he could not scratch. I wonder what kind of pain was inside of Solomon?

We are the ones who define this life for ourselves. And sometimes, someone else defines our life for us. Scary, isn’t it?

Who wants to be trapped in the toxic nightmare of another human being? Millions of people were prisoners in Hitler’s nightmare. Nightmares are happening today, you may be in one.

Whatever your condition of life today, you are seeing life from the pain that is inside of you. The sky might be a royal blue and the sun a blazing yellow and the breeze in your face, but you will not see it. You will not enjoy the miracle that is before you.

But what if you are participating in the life of somebody else? What if the dreams of belonging, assurance, and acceptance, and being cherished are not just the fantasy of a dying soul, but the present reality of someone greater imparted in the depths of your being and you know it to be true, but can’t quite put your arms around it?


You may want to consider this: you certainly are more precious than any sea turtle! And, it may be that the life of someone who is so much greater than you holds the key to your existence.

Jesus said that he had come to give you life, His life, abundantly. You just need your eyes opened! Ask Him, and enjoy some clear vision, his vision.