On March 14, 2024, Good Morning America aired a segment about Sloan Mattingly, a seven-year-old child who died after being swallowed up in a hole in the sand on Florida’s Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach on February 20, 2024.
Sloan and her nine-year-old brother, Maddox, were doing what many of us have done—digging a big hole in the sand. Tragically, the deep hole they dug was too deep. It closed in on both Sloan and Maddox. Their parents and many other beachgoers move swiftly to try to save the children.
While they were able to rescue Maddox who was directly above Sloan, the sand had become so heavy that it took twenty minutes to get Sloan out. This precious little girl died, not because of negligence, but because a lack of understanding of the danger the children were in. Experts say that any such hole in the sand should not be deeper than the knee of the shortest person involved.
Spring Break is over for some and just beginning for others. Summer is just around the corner when teems of people will hit the beaches with their biggest fears being that of drowning or being attacked by sharks. Ignorant of the dangers of the actual sand on the beach will likely not be on their minds—but it should be.
It’s been said over and over and over again: “No parent should ever outlive their child.” I believe that to be true with all my heart. But it’s not just children who are in danger. We all are if we ignore the hazards that are all around us.
The photo accompanying this article was taken by Norman L. Whetsten, who was a nearby stranger, shortly after Sloan was retrieved from the sand. It was suggested that this sunbeam was a sign from Sloan to let us know that she was at peace. I’d like to believe that. Perhaps you would, too.
On a far different note, in its March 16, 2024, edition, the Clarion Ledger reported on the Mississippi Legislature’s bills to take away and limit the rights of the transgender community. I urge you to visit their website and read the story.
After reading the article myself, the words of the great anti-Nazi theologian, Martin Niemöller, rang in my ears. Here is one version of what he had to say during the time of Adolf Hitler. (Twenty-five years later, according to Wikipedia, Niemöller indicated that this was the version he preferred.) I can think of no better commentary than this:
“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”
More laws lead to less freedom and more “offenders.” Take heed, Mississippi. Take heed America, lest we wind up becoming a totalitarian state. We might just have to change the spelling of America to Amerika.
…and that’s the view from The Balcony.
Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Shamanic Life Coach, an ordained minister, a singer-songwriter, and an actor. Randy may be reached at randallsweeks@gmail.com.
