The Sand Crab and the Seagull
“Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.” Deuteronomy 32:38 KJV
It was a beautiful morning on the beach. The sun was rising across the ocean’s horizon. I was pretty much alone on the beach with the exception of an occasional dog walker. As I turned to look at the sand I noticed what looked like hundreds of sand crabs. I’m not sure exactly what they were doing, but they were very busy.
The sand crab is a little different than a regular crab. For one thing, you usually see them on land, or in the sand, and not in the water. The other big difference about them is their eyes are on top of their head. As they crawl across the sand it almost seems like they are looking up to the sky.
I was wondering why they were gathering around me. Anytime I made any kind of movement they would quickly flee, so I knew they weren’t sizing me up for breakfast. Then some seagulls flew overhead as if breakfast was ready. The sand crabs either ran into the holes they dug or remained completely still hoping they would blend in with their surroundings. A few of the crabs became victims, but the seagulls decided my being there posed too much of a risk for them so they quickly flew off. The crabs returned to their business. As long as I didn’t move too quickly, it was like I was their hero. I was their great protector from the big bad seagulls.
He was probably the most unlikely candidate to become President. Maybe that was part of his appeal. From what I can tell, he is the only President whose parents married after he was born. His Mother was married twice. His Father was married four times. They divorced about three years after they were married and later his Mother found out his Father hadn’t even divorced his first wife before he married her. This President saw his Father only one more time and that was when he was ten years old. His Father died when he was twenty-one years old.
His mother was very involved with poverty problems, women’s rights, rural development, human rights, and grass-roots development. She worked for the United States Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation, the Asian Development Bank, the Bank Rakyat Indonesia, and the Women’s World Bank. In these jobs she worked with microcredits that helped to empower women to improve their conditions. In 1992 she earned a PhD in anthropology from the University of Hawaii and her 1043 page dissertation was titled: Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: surviving and thriving against all odds.
David was one of those Bible characters who seemed to have experienced it all. He would have extreme highs and the deepest lows. As a young lad he would gather a few stones and take his sling shot and slay a giant. Then a king, Saul, would lay a plot to kill him because of his jealousy of David’s popularity, even though David was completely loyal to Saul. David would become king himself. Yet his son would also plot to take his throne away. David would know many victories in battle. Yet his lust would overcome him and he would kill a loyal and innocent soldier to claim this soldier’s wife. Then he would lose the child created from that lust.
David would know victory and David would know defeat. David would know the highs and David would know the lows. David would know how to live in caves and on the run and David would know how to live in a palace with servants. David would mingle with the little people and David would hold counsel with world leaders. David had been the sand crab and David had been the sea gull.
Barrack Obama would be very involved with social issues just like his mother was. He would become a Director of Developing Communities Projects Organizer in Chicago. Obama would mingle with the less advantaged in the streets of Chicago and one day he would hold counsel with world leaders as President of the United States. He was the product of an interracial marriage, yet he would lead a nation with many different types of relationships. Obama loved his hometown sports teams, yet he would have to even honor their rivals. Sometimes Obama had been the sand crab and sometimes Obama had been the sea gull.
David and President Obama both have been on opposite ends of the food chain. As leaders of a great people, though, each has also been called upon to be the protector of both the sand crab and the sea gull. The wisdom of each experience should guide them to understand the checks and balances needed to keep the beach going. If there are too many sand crabs, they will take over the beach. If there are too many sea gulls, there won’t be any sand crabs.
Often I think our leaders, and even ourselves, get caught up in our causes. We forget the delicate balance needed to keep our country going. We all want to be the sea gull and get our way and our fill. The poor sand crabs just stare up into the sky just hoping for someone to stand on the beach and help protect them so they can keep up with their busy lives. We need both the sand crabs and the sea gulls to keep the balance. Our biggest mistake is to forget that.
Prayer: Father, I pray that you grant President Obama the wisdom to lead our nation into the great land of our potential. Help him, and all future Presidents realize, we are a nation with a mix much like the beach. No side should have the advantage over the other, but a balance is needed to keep things running smoothly. Please help them, and us, to keep the balance we need to keep our country being the great nation that it is. Amen.
