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Crossing Cultures Devotional Memoir

Missing beauty

“Lord, you are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:5-6).

Beauty? Our first year of living in Karachi, my eyes saw the sand and dirt. Trash along the roads. The walls and buildings that matched the browns of a desert landscape.  

two boys standing on a street with trash littered all around
Street scene. imb photos

Nothing seemed pleasant. Or beautiful. 

I decided “pleasant places” must refer to the believer’s spiritual condition. Certainly not physical surroundings. Not this desert megacity, anyway. 

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Devotional

Momentary art

On beach vacations in my childhood, I made little sand bowls. Piled up a mountain of sand, scooped out the top, then slowly poured a cup of water in.

It baked in the tropical heat. And I baked in the tropical heat. Then, brushing away the loose sand, I lifted out a fragile oddly-shaped sand bowl.

The momentary art of a child at play.

The surf moved in and out. I sat in the vast ocean holding my little creation.  A large wave drenched me. The bowl dissolved. Wet sand ran through my fingers in the waves. Delightful.

Then I made another one.