While in college I often went to a nearby park to study on sunny spring days. Not too far from my favorite swing was a sandbox where little children gathered to play. On one afternoon the merriment of the little ones distracted my mind from my physics textbook to the point where I was compelled to watch as the little children laughed together, having fun building “Dixie cup” castles without a care in the world. Some built elaborate castles, with towers and moats, others were content with more modest structures. After a while, a few slightly older kids, attracted by the laughter, came over to the sandbox, but they didn’t want to build. Instead, they quickly proceeded to kick down all the castles that the little kids had built before any of the nearby moms could intervene. Then they quickly ran off to do more mischief elsewhere, taking the joy of innocence with them and leaving only tears in the sand. That day I saw something revealing about human nature displayed in the simplest of circumstances. The world is full of castle builders and castle kickers. And, as followers of Jesus, we must daily choose which to be. (Psa. 1:1-2)—Dan Bruce