Herding Jellyfish

The beach at the Hard Rock Cafe in Montego Bay is much smaller than it used to be, taken over by various new resorts and condos. Even the Hard Rock Cafe is relatively new, but gracious enough to allow residents of the Bay Pointe condos to use the beach there or, perhaps, the beach access is "grandfathered" in. Either way, we appreciate the use of that beach whenever we are in Jamaica. However, I can't help being a bit disappointed to find that the natural wildlife is more controlled than it used to be.

Erin and Meagan can't forget those times, as young children, when they followed tiny, yellow fiddler crabs and hermit crabs, just like the pets they had at home, all over the sandy beach. We all remember the time Meagan picked up a sizable conch shell at the edge of the water, only to have a miniature squid dive out of the shell, into the water, swimming away under cover of the black ink it squirted as camouflage. 

Back then, we could find big shells along the water line, and even an occasional starfish or sea urchin; the rocks along the breakwater were teaming with stingrays and various multicolored fish. And, during the rainy season, jellyfish were often plentiful in the shallow water along the beach, as Erin found out the first time she visited Jamaica. The stings on her abdomen and legs were uncomfortable enough that she spent a couple of precious vacation days on the couch in the condo, watching TV.

This trip, the snorkelers found a few fish to observe, out past the designated swimming area. On our last day, they spotted a swarm, sometimes called a "bloom" or a "smack," of colorless jellyfish. Soon after Levi came closer to shore to tell me about them, some unseen creatures bumped into my leg a couple of times. Other swimmers were also accosted, but not stung, by the curious jellyfish. It wasn't long before one made its way to the shoreline, looking like a translucent, dinner plate, lying there in the shallow water.

Several people rushed over to see the jellyfish up close, and then one of the lifeguards scooped it into a five gallon bucket, eventually taking it to the other side of the breakwater, where he dumped it back into the sea. 

I am quite certain that a healthy jellyfish would be able to dart around the breakwater, back to the swarm it left, in less time that it would take for the lifeguard to wend his way back to the swimming area. But, no one asked me...

Levi was fascinated with the jellyfish. He reported that the swarm he saw further out, near the end of the breakwater, swam in a group, like a school of fish, each one swimming vertically, and appearing to have no tentacles at all. We both noticed that the one near the shore swam horizontally, once it was out of its depth, and we spied a few inconspicuous tentacles encircling the jellyfish's body.

When Levi snorkeled out to see if the rest of the jellyfish were still there, he spied them right where he saw them the first time. As he waded onto shore, he spotted another one close by, so he grabbed the only stick on the beach, and proceeded to herd the jellyfish to the water's edge, and onto the sand, where he poked it with the stick. I admonished him to leave the jellyfish alone, but he insisted that he was protecting the rest of the swimmers from being stung.

Herding jellyfish.
How often do we, like Levi, get ourselves caught up in something we know very little about, with the guise of being helpful? Most people are, by nature, busybodies, inserting ourselves into situations that would be better left alone. None of us can be all things to all people. Instead, we need to focus on the things we are good at, developing and using the gifts God has given us, and seeking his guidance so we can avoid herding any "jellyfish" we may encounter. Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 1:5

Yet, there are times when God nudges us to step out of our comfort zones, to do things we may have never even considered doing before. In most cases, I don't believe that God expects us to act instantly. Instead, as he urges us to look to him for the guidance we need, he assures us that he will lead the way: I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8

Then, we might become like the man who was walking along the shore after a storm stranded hordes of starfish on the sand. As he walked, he stooped every so often to pick up a starfish and lob it into the water. When someone asked him why he bothered, when there were far too many marooned starfish for him to make a difference, he replied, as he threw another one back into the water: "It made a difference for that one."

Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5



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