Recently, in one of those early morning moments between sleep and full wakefulness, an image came to me. I heard a preacher tell a brief parable. They said that most of us choose to carry one large rock around with us. We consider that rock to be our burden, our calling, our destiny. But God really calls us to carry around pebbles instead—and those pebbles are tokens of love that we are invited to constantly gift to others.
What do you think? I found myself thinking of the big rocks that so many people carry. Some of those rocks seem inevitable because they formed us. They might be the shoulds and oughts of our familial assumptions. They might be the -isms handed to us by society: racism, classism, workaholism. They might be the causes that we’ve taken up, such as addressing inequities, the climate crisis, or the need to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The problem arises with the pain that comes with constantly carrying those big rocks. Our bodies can’t handle a big rock 24/7/365. Our backs get tired, our fingers develop arthritis, and our knees buckle. At some level, we long to lay down our burden by the riverside, but we feel we can’t. We have this sense of call, or tradition, or “this is the way things are,” and the burden continues to weigh us down.
But we can lay it down. Indeed, we are called to lay it down, regularly. I’ve written before about the need for sabbath. We all need to truly rest on a regular basis. (As I’ve gotten older, I’m learning that I can’t always do a three-mile walk every morning. Some days, my body is just saying no. I need to rest.)
We can also choose whether and when we pick up that rock again. So often, we presume that once we’ve made a commitment, we must continue with it. But that’s not necessarily the call. God, through Jesus, calls us to faithfulness, not to repetition. There’s a difference.
So, what does faithfulness look like? In the parable above, faithfulness is always having a few small love pebbles in our pocket that we can hand out as the need arises. Instead of heaving our large rock at a situation and wrenching our overburdened shoulder in the process, we can gently hand over a pebble of love instead. And because pebbles are small, we can do this many times in a day without damaging ourselves or others.
What is your response to this parable? How would it feel to choose sharing love pebbles with others each day?
What a sweet idea, Shirin… Love Pebbles. I think I will seal each one with a kiss before handing it over. That could become a huge commitment, looking at the number of pretty pebbles catching my eye. But as you note sometimes I can stop searching out pebbles and people, and just rest.
I’m glad you like this idea, Mo. I love your commitment to doing this and to adding a kiss. Perhaps it becomes only as much of a commitment as you can handle, one day at a time…and allow God to bring you the people and pebbles, especially on days when you don’t have the extra energy to reach out. Balance is critical in the spiritual life: both work and rest!
Peace,
Shirin
Your words make me feel like I can lay down a boulder I didn’t fully realize I was still carrying. And I can feel good about the small pebbles that I do hand out. Thank you!
I’m so glad, Karen. May you find real relief and grace in laying down that boulder and making smaller, easier choices about what to carry going forward….
Peace,
Shirin
“God, through Jesus, calls us to faithfulness, not to repetition”
This is true on so many levels…. thank you for this visual image and what feels like permission to examine what needs to go, or how I can put things down and still be faithful.
You’re welcome, Joyce. I’m grateful to be supporting this opportunity for you to revisit some things and imagine new ways of being faithful!
Peace,
Shirin
I love it! I just now got around to reading this because–you guessed it–too many other things pressing in on me yesterday, all those shoulds and oughts. My late partner had a humorous way of talking about that. She would say, “Don’t should on yourself.” I now carry lots of those love pebbles around, and hand them out whenever I stop for a quick chat with a neighbor who is out walking their dog as I’m on my morning walk, or when I talk with a fellow shopper about the quality of the great summer fruits. And I love the idea that I don’t have to keep on carrying that heavy rock of responsibility regarding the terrible things (fill in the blank) going on in the world, as if it were my responsibility instead of God’s. Wow, Shirin, this was a truly uplifting message. Thanks so much!
You’re so welcome, Aston! I’m glad to help uplift your spirit and lighten your load. I do love that “Don’t should on yourself” message, so thank you for sharing it. Many blessings on distributing pebbles and giving back to God more and more things you don’t need to carry!
Peace,
Shirin