"A hundred million miracles are happening every day."
- Rodgers and Hammerstein
Once upon a time, finding one unbroken, bleached-white sand dollar while walking along a shoreline gave me a thrill. The specimen felt like a gift from the sea.
One day, recently, while in the water at Sanibel Island, my husband and I found thousands upon thousands of living sand dollars in the sand beneath our feet.
My big toe felt something sharp. Upon investigating, we saw it was a living sand dollar, covered with what looked like soft purple fur. Searching further, we discovered layers upon layer of these amazing sea urchins. And the bed of them stretched as far as we explored to the east and to the west.
We had been visiting Sanibel for 40 years. Never before had we experienced an abundance of living sand dollars.
The symbolism of the sand dollar is hope and peace. For us it is also awe and reverence because the take-away is realizing that millions of miracles are happening each day. They are all around us and within us. There is so much order, beauty, and wonderment in the world that we do not see - so much we do not yet recognize.
Some day soon we will. And that realization will bring us to a place of authentic respect for all life and on to peace and harmony. Let's join hearts and head in that direction.
With love and hope,
Charlene
THE FIFTH GIFT IS HOPE.
Through each passage and season
may you trust the goodness of life.
from The Twelve Gifts of Birth
