On a Pufferfish

Deep beneath the surface of the ocean, a small Japanese pufferfish toils away creating a temporal piece of art that, to our eyes, looks like an underwater alien crop circle. It's actually a masterpiece of love. This five inch long fish works relentlessly to create a circle seven feet across in order to attract its mate with a breathtaking display of precision and beauty. As I read about the pufferfish this week (after being introduced to it by one of Littles' classmates), I resonated with this insignificant creature. I saw in the pufferfish lessons about life and lessons about art that I didn't anticipate.

First, the pufferfish reminds me that we affect more than we realize. With its persistent work, the pufferfish creates a work of art 16 times as big as it is. Sixteen times. Sometimes we don't believe that we matter. But if the pufferfish's circle is over a dozen times bigger than itself, who knows how many people we are affecting by just continuing to do our own small jobs. The ripples that bounce off our obedience may be the blessing someone else needs--and we don't even realize it.

Sometimes the art we create is a clean dog...

Second, the pufferfish's work of art doesn't last, but that doesn't mean it's lacking in worth. It takes seven to nine days for the pufferfish to disrupt enough sediment to create the pattern. But how long do you think it would take for the ocean to wash it all away? And yet the pufferfish continues with its purpose. Sometimes we want to give up because the beauty we create in the world (whether a cleaned off counter or a smile on someone else's face) seems so transient. But imagine how much bleaker the sea floor would be without the pufferfish's creation? Surely it is worth it, at least to the female pufferfish, no matter how long it lasts.

Sometimes it's letting your eight year old paint your toenails...

Third, we see that in order to create art, the pufferfish has to be willing to sift through disrupted sediment until it has unearthed the soft sand beneath. Similarly, for the artist, there is no art without first sifting through the grit that has hidden our souls. We must be willing to face the things that are hard, jarring, painful. This is not fun, but it is necessary, or the art we produce only ever occurs at a surface level which ultimately keeps it from being effective.

Sometimes it's making alligator cupcakes
for your now three year old...
that smile is a work of art too...

Interestingly enough, it is while sifting through the gritty sand that the pufferfish excavates shells which he saves to add to his design. We often think that filtering through the uncomfortable stuff is needlessly hard or only something that we ever do because we have to. We forget that it is when we choose to make those difficult choices that we discover incredible beauty that's been hidden all this time just below the surface.

Sometime's it's a big pot of vegetable curry...

Or a row of hot cocoa mugs on a cold morning...

Fourth, once the pufferfish begins, he can't stop or the ocean will immediately begin dispersing the sand back to its usual smooth, shifting flatness, at which point the pufferfish either has to give up or start all over again from scratch. I remember this as an encouragement for myself...to keep going, to persevere, to not make my own work harder by giving up. It's also a reminder to me that if a 5 inch long fish can swim for seven to nine days in a row without a break, then I can get out of bed and do the work God has called me to do.

Sometimes it is the first bloom on your strawberry plants
that you faithfully tended to for the long barren months...

Finally, once the pufferfish is done, he shows it off to his hopeful partner. If she accepts his work of art and they mate, she then uses this labor of love as a nest for their eggs. The disrupted sand patterns protect the eggs by decreasing the speed of water flow to the center of the nest where they nestle in safety. The pufferfish's hard work is not only beautiful but also useful, not only attractive but also a resting place. How many of us can say this about the art we create (whether we create on a small scale with a smile or a large scale with a completed projected)? Are we looking long term to how the beauty that we create can nourish and nurture?

Sometimes it's creative gift wrapping
and making the cat look up at just the right moment...

All around us God's creation points us towards him and shows us who we are more fully...if we are willing to open our souls and look and listen and learn. The pufferfish is one example of how God speaks to us in the small things. No detail is too insignificant--He has written us messages of hope and courage even on the sea floor.

And often it is the choice to keep going,
day in and day out,
with spelling lists and dishes and hugging your small children.