Shark sightings in impossible places

Some years ago there was an unbelievable spike in the number of shark sightings. Sharks were being seen in numbers that were absolutely unprecedented and in locations which they had never been noticed before. It was an unbelievable increase in the number of sharks.

Not only were there more shark sightings than ever before, sharks were showing up in places where they had never been seen before. There were even shark sightings in freshwater rivers. On one occasion, there was a shark sighting in a river 120 miles inland. This sighting indicated that the shark had swam upstream, had actually crossed over a number of rapids and had jumped up a falls.

What was causing this incredible increase in the number of shark sightings? Was it a dramatic change in shark populations? Perhaps it involved a food dynamic in the oceans. Possibly there were larger and more aggressive predators in the deep waters causing sharks to come in close to the coastline and even into rivers.

The actual reason turned out to have little or nothing to do with oceanography or with the environment of the oceans’ ecosystems. The reason for all the shark sightings occurred in the study of one Peter Benchley. In 1974, Benchley wrote his first novel which became a best seller and was, in 1975, the summer blockbuster movie Jaws.  The sightings of all those sharks were the result of a movie that captivated audiences and captured imagination. After the movie Jaws, people were seeing sharks everywhere even in places where it was utterly impossible for sharks to be.

Which brings to mind this question, “What captures your imagination?”  “What dreams and goals do you have?”  Here is another question to think about, “What do you think captured the imagination of Jesus?”   If you came across Jesus alone looking at the night sky and asked, “What are you thinking about?” What might He say?  Before the universe began he thought of you and all you could be.  In the mind of the Creator were countless galaxies, but there was also you.  He thought about the rings of Saturn and the hairs on your head.  He may have thought of all the wonderful and loving things you could do.  Perhaps that is what needs to capture our imagination, the thoughts of the eternal Son for us before time began.  Maybe then we will better see what God is doing in the world around us and everywhere that we can join in.  It is better than seeing sharks.