" Pebbles and Diamonds "
A man was walking out in the desert when a voice said to him, “Pick up some pebbles and put them in your pocket, and tomorrow you will be both sorry and glad.”
The man obeyed. He stooped down and picked up a handful of pebbles and put them into his pocket. The next morning he reached into his pocket and found diamonds, rubies and emeralds. He was both glad and sorry. Glad that he had picked up some pebbles, and sorry that he hadn’t picked up more.
I want to put that together with another story I read. A young Baptist woman, while taking a course in Catholic theology, recorded in her journal her reactions to the Easter vigil service she attended with a few other students.
“I went to Mass tonight. I am not a Catholic, but I was really wanting to join in fellowship and to praise God, so I went. I thought that, since it was Easter time, it would be an exciting Mass, with exciting people. But I sat and kept waiting for the excitement that never came. Even the priest wasn’t excited. He read the prayers….And the people surely were not excited—they rushed through everything just to get it done, then rushed out of church. Even communion was rushed and seemed to be listless.
“Come on, people! Jesus is alive! He died and rose again. So can we too. I think that’s exciting! I don’t know what it is, but the people at Mass tonight seemed to miss the whole thing…”
In our Gospel reading we have some words that the chosen disciples heard while they were on the mountain: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
Each and every time we gather for Mass, we have readings from God’s word in the Bible. Some readings may strike us more than others, some may capture our attention, while others go over our heads, or in one ear and out the other. But as I think about the story of the man in the desert, and apply it to us, I feel that each time we come to church and listen and reflect on God’s word, it’s like we’re putting pebbles into our pockets. They may not seem very exciting, or even pertinent to our situation at the moment. But I believe that these pebbles of wisdom, as humble as they are, can turn into diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Now what do I mean by that?
When something happens in our life that really grabs our attention: we have a health crisis, someone we love gets sick and dies, someone disappoints us and breaks our heart, we have a serious financial problem or lose a job: It’s in those situations that the pebbles we’ve picked up along the way can become precious gems that reveal their wisdom, their truth, or their comfort.
As to the Baptist woman’s impression of us Catholics, she just may be right. We tend not to be overly or overtly excited. Maybe it’s because we were taught that coming to Mass was serious business, and that we should act with respect, dignity and decorum. But the Baptist woman makes me wonder: Do we believe that the word of God is good news? Does it change our outlook, our sense of meaning and hope, does it bring us the promise of joy, even in difficult times? In a fast-moving, often stressful and sometimes disappointing world, does listening to God’s beloved Son make a difference?
So, what we do here can seem repetitive and boring. The preaching can leave us listless and dull. It may seem that all we’re doing, week after week, is picking up a bunch of pebbles. But, when we need it the most, do not at least some of the pebbles turn into diamonds of insight, rubies of comfort, and emeralds of joy?
And, if you find your spiritual pockets are giving you some real gems that matter, why not share your gratitude, let others know what God is doing in your life, and ask them to come to listen to God’s beloved Son along with you, so that their pebbles can turn to gems, too?