Once upon a time there was a little grain of sand. The little grain of sand came loose from a rock face of quartz and was washed down a river to the ocean and then washed up on shore with his little grain of sand friends and family. It was a bright and inquisitive little grain of sand and grew in knowledge throughout its life. The little grain of sand even went to Sandy Beach University and earned doctorates in geology and engineering. It loved its life lying in the sun on the beach ebbing and flowing with the tides, and sharing his knowledge with others. One day the little grain of sand was high up on the beach and was scooped up with his friends and family and put in a bag. “What is this all about?” He thought. Oh well, he was with his family and friends, so he was content in his bag. Days later he heard a rumor about the great glass blower. He was educated, so he was very skeptical about this alleged glass blower. It was said to him that the glass blower seeks out grains of sand, purifies them and then molds them into beautiful, useful things. “What?” He thought. “How could this be?” In school he learned that everything is created through naturalistic means, so why would a glass blower even exist? It just didn’t make sense. Well, time passed and one day he and his friends and family were poured into a bucket. He was confused about this occurrence, but he had his friends and family around him, so he was content. One day he saw some friends gathered, having a discussion and they were pointing at something above them. He went over to them and looked up. He saw a beautiful water pitcher with a beautiful curved handle, an elegant sculpted spout and swirls of color at its base in rich hews of purple, red and blue. His friends said look at the glorious grandeur of the pitcher that the glass blower made. The little grain of sand said, “Glass blower? What are you talking about? I have 2 Doctorates and I know that everything comes about through naturalistic means. There is no such thing as a glass blower.” His friends were intrigued and asked him to explain the theory he learned in school about everything having developed slowly over billions of years. After he provided the theory, they asked, “then where did the pitcher come from?” The little grain of sand thought about the question and then said, “Over billions of years grains of sand fell into hot molten lava and melted and as the resulting lump of glass cooled the glass was separated out of the molten rock. Then over billions of years wind, rain, snow, heat, cold, abrasives and vast amounts of time, the beautiful pitcher was formed and polished. That’s how the pitcher came into being, not some imaginary glass blower.” Since the little grain of sand had doctoral degrees and a vast and prestigious education, the other grains of sand agreed with his theory, but a few were still skeptical. The beautiful pitcher looked as if it were designed; created by knowledge, skill, engineering and expert craftsmanship, so who was right? Both seemed plausible, but which one was right? Several days later the little grain of sand and many of his friends and family were scooped up and cast into a mold to be heated. They were grains of sand, so it didn’t hurt them, but as the heat melted them and purified them they changed. They became molten glass, glowing bright orange in the 2600 degree heat. Then something miraculous occurred. The glass blower showed up. He lifted up some of the molten glass on his glass blowing pipe and began his work. The glass (including the little grain of sand) was purified, converted and molded into a beautiful glass pitcher. Now the little grain of sand was part of something much bigger and better than itself. It was now useful, beautiful, pure and vibrant. Then it knew! There really is a glass blower and he can engineer and create beautiful things from simpler things, but it required the glass blower’s knowledge and skill. The little grain of sand finally realized that sand cannot become a beautiful and useful pitcher without the engineering, knowledge and skill of the master glass blower. Sand, randomly moving about within nature could never spontaneously become anything and could never become the beautiful pitcher that the little grain of sand and his friends and family became. They are now part of something special, important and useful, in accordance with the will of the master glass blower that molded them into the pure, clear and beautiful creation that they had become.
Dedicated to: My mother – Lou Brown