Chance Encounter with a Tidepool Sculpin?

Just for a moment I was back at school, and felt that old familiar pain. And as I turned to make my way back home, The snow turned into rain --
Dan Fogelberg, Same Old Lang Syne.

Tidepool Sculpin. Photo by Stuart Wilson (used with permission).

In late June I spent several hours in solitude along the Oregon Coast, in the late afternoon & early evening. It was a wondrous time, filled with the beauty of God's creation. As I walked I sensed his presence, like he was intentionally delighting in showing me the intricacies of his handiwork. I saw many birds such as gulls, cormorants, and ducks, including three species I had never seen before. I also saw sea anemones, clams, mussels, and starfish, all while hearing the surf crash against the line of rocks just offshore (50 yards or so out from the beach, pictured below), sometimes with a very powerful clap.

There were many tide pools at this beach, and I stopped by one to study it. While I was peering into the water I noticed a barely discernible, ghostlike movement on the bottom - almost like the floor of the tide pool itself was moving. Upon closer inspection I noticed the movement was small fish, which I later identified as tidepool sculpins (pictured above). I stayed there studying their patterns for a long time because I wanted to be able to identify them later. All at once, I realized one of them seemed to be studying me! It was looking at me, and slowly, incrementally was moving closer to me, somewhat under the cover of some sparse leaves of sea weed. There seemed to be a kind of playfulness in its behavior, and that it was as curious of me as I was of it. This went on for quite some time. It was an absolutely beautiful experience and I knew God was romancing me, speaking to me through it.

Seal Rock State Park, Oregon, where I spent an
incredible June afternoon and evening!

Learning about an artist through their work
John Eldredge, in a chapter entitled "Is Jesus Really Playful?" (Beautiful Outlaw), noted that we can learn a lot about an artist by observing their work...that the personality of the artist leaks through their work. God included. In speaking of how the playfulness of their family dog made them laugh, Eldredge stated:

"[Our dog's playfulness] makes us laugh every time. And no one taught him to do this. He came that way. God created him so. It might seem an odd place to begin a search for Jesus, but this is very close to where John begins his Gospel: Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3)...[Jesus] reveals himself through nature, as the Scriptures testify. This will open up wonders for you about the personality of Jesus - look at his works of art."

Chance Encounter?? Not a Chance!!
I can't stress enough how my interpretation of such seemingly "chance" encounters as with the tidepool sculpin has changed from my college biology days; I have written in other posts about how the naturalist, secular view, so prevalent at American universities, dimmed the meaning and wonder I had previously felt about our world. Even after that wonder was dimmed I would have been fascinated, but underlying it all would have been a nagging sense (emanating from secularism) that such an encounter was only a random accident and consequently, without real meaning.

Now I know there isn't a chance that my encounter with the tidepool sculpin was by chance! It was orchestrated by God, and all I had to do was take time and solitude to listen to Him and look for things that He wanted to show me!

As I turned to make my way back home that evening, my heart wasn't filled with pain that this brief glimpse of beauty was over and that I had to return to the grind of daily living. Rather, my heart was filled with joy and praise to the God who lives in me and is always with me! This is a glimpse of relationship with God, which we so often hear about but sometimes find so elusive, even to those of us who want it.

...seek, and you will find... (Matt 7:7)

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; (Psalms 24:1)