While hanging out with a group of ladies from our church last weekend, a friend asked the question, “What role would you want to play from a musical?” While most of the answers ranged from Mary Poppins to Elphaba to My Fair Lady, mine was Miss Frizzle. I know she is not in a musical, but the answer suits me as I am an insufferable science nerd.

The Lord has used three natural object lessons specific to California to buttress and instruct my soul recently. I love how the Lord knows that we need more than written instruction. He who wired us and knit us together body, mind, and soul knows the vital connection between sight and soul. He has sewn spiritual reminders into the physical world for those who have eyes to see.

Spiritual Cycles & Vernal Pools

At least once every two weeks, I take a few hours to hike at an expansive regional park nearby. The spaciousness does wonders for a worry-crowded soul in the middle of a crowded, busy city. Once a year, my favorite trail becomes almost impassible due to a vernal pool. Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that suddenly appear in lowland areas in Mediterranean climates. What is usually an incredibly dry and unassuming area becomes an entire ecosystem for a few weeks: ducks appear, frogs chirp, and the trail all but submerges in a surprising, short-lived pool. The sediments deposited in a vernal pool enrich the ground for the remainder of the year, and the vernal pool helps to slowly release gathered groundwater into the water table slowly.

This week, I walked on the trail with ease, but it is likely that in a month, the vernal pool will reappear. As I walked and wondered about the vernal pool, the Spirit brought to remembrance similar imagery from Psalm 84:

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they pass through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs: the early rain covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion” (Psalm 84: 5–7).

It seems I’m not the first person to see the connection between the vernal pools and the cycles of the human soul. The Sons of Korah lived in a similar Mediterranean climate and saw the beautiful mirroring of sight and soul hidden within vernal pools.

Psalm 84 is structured around three statements of blessedness (spiritual happiness): blessed are those who dwell in God’s house, blessed are those whose hearts are on pilgrimage to God’s presence, and blessed are those who trust in God. Our verses refer to the middle statement of blessing, the blessing that belongs to souls who seek after God. While the Sons of Korah sought to encourage actual pilgrims on actual paths to the actual Temple, it is not difficult to see the broader spiritual application for the Christian life.

God will provide strength and spiritual sustenance for those “in whose hearts are the highways to Zion.” Though the way may seem dry and lifeless, though, in seasons, our lives may look arid, God will make pools from pits. In fact, the very depressions we despise will, in His time, become the holding place for his spiritual blessings poured down upon us.

Granaries: Storing Spiritual Sustenance for the Future

Southern California, while known for its palm varieties, also boasts beautiful Coast Live Oak trees. If you look closely at many of these trees, you’ll find an unusual feature forged by Acorn Woodpeckers: granaries. Acorn Woodpeckers are an unusually communal bird species. They work together to store food for the immediate community and do so by creating storehouses in the outermost bark of live oak trees. They dig out little crevices just the right size for the acorns they gather, and then they work together as a community to protect their stores for themselves and future generations.

I could spend hours watching the woodpeckers work so diligently to find the right storage hole for each acorn. Sometimes I do. What a fascinating visual picture of the spiritual realities the church is meant to embody: storing up spiritual truths to feed the flock, both presently and in the future, and working together to protect and guard the Word, our spiritual sustenance.

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness” (Psalm 145:4–7).

I love that its not a solo affair, this spiritual feeding and protecting. I love watching other adults and young adults feeding my children spiritually by pointing out where they have been fed in the past. I love that each member of the body has an obligation to participate in the life of the local church.

The King Tides: In Plenty or In Want

Once a year when the earth, the moon and the sun are in perfect alignment, they create the strongest gravitational pull on the oceans which results in the king tides: the highest and lowest tides of the whole year. The extremely high tides make for great surfing (and some flood surging), while the extremely low tides provide a rare opportunity to peer into tide pools on exposed shoreline. As I stated earlier, I am a bit of a Ms. Frizzle, so visiting the tide pools during these low tides is one of the highlights of my year. You stand where feet don’t get to stand and see what eyes don’t normally get to see: crabs, lobsters, sea stars and hares, and even the occasional octopus. It is a verifiable dork’s delight.

The Lord uses these paired tides to remind me of the reality of spiritual cycles. High tides stir and circulate, while low tides expose, both physically and spiritually. Both are part of the process, playing their respective parts. Creatures living in the intertidal zone have to adapt to live in the swiftly changing physical environments created by constant tides. They have hard shells to protect them when exposed, they have strong holdfasts by which they are able to anchor themselves to something firm during the tidal shifts, and they cluster in groups for protection and stability.

The human soul lives in a spiritual intertidal zone; as such, we must learn how to trust in the Lord in abundance and in need, whether we are lifted high or brought very low (Philippians 4: 12–13). Similar adaptations of soul are required: the need to holdfast to the Rock of our Salvation and the solid, unshifting foundation of the Word, the need to group together, and the need to be thick-souled rather than fragile.

As we prepare to move into a new year, I am gathering up these object lessons from the land around me. I am thankful that our God understands the connection between sight and soul.