Boy With Bucket Of Shell

The boy held up the pink shell he was using to move water, quotI'm trying to fit that great big ocean into this tiny hole,quot he yelled, pointing assertively at the sand.

The boy stopped for a moment, stood and looked into the eyes of the saint, and replied, quotIt is no more impossible than what you are trying to do comprehend the immensity of the mystery of

The Trinity is a classic conundrum for theologians. How do you explain the mystery in a way that doesn't mystify? Augustine is struggling with that problem as he walks by the seaside, taking a break from his writing, On the Trinity.. He notices a small child digging in the sand with a seashell.

The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and place it into a small hole in the sand. The Bishop of Hippo approached him and asked, quotMy boy, what are doing?quot quotI am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,quot the boy replied with a sweet smile.

St. Augustine smiled, charmed by the child's innocence, his bright eyes, the way sunlight shone in his curly hair. He then followed the boy to kneel beside the tiny hole, watching him spill out a few meager drops. quotMy child,quot the bishop of Hippo broke the news gently, turning the boy's skinny shoulders to face the sea.

The story goes that he saw a little boy digging a hole in the sand, and then running to the ocean, filling up his hands with the seawater, running back to the hole and emptying the water into the

Augustine merrily watched the little boy hurry over to the sea with an empty bucket in his hand. The boy then, having filled it with water, carried his heavy burden back up onto the beach and to a hole he had prepared in the sand. The bishop watched as the child emptied his bucket into the small pit. His curiosity turned to surprise when he saw

Upon saying that, the boy, who was an angel according to legend, quickly disappeared, leaving Augustine alone with the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. In a gorgeous 15th century book of saints' lives by Jacobus de Voragine, called Legenda Aurea or The Golden Legend, this amazing story about St Augustine and the child at the sea shore is

By Shari Boodts. Saint Augustine 354-430 is one of the most influential thinkers of the Western World. His answers to life's profound questions shaped Western civilization to an unparalleled degree.

Once, while he was walking by the sea, he saw a child playing with a shell and pouring sea water into a small hole he had dug. St. Augustine observed him for a moment, then approached him and said, quotDear child, what are you doing here? - I want to pour the sea into this little hole. - That's impossible,quot said the bishop, smiling.