As I walked along the earthy, well-tread path, I happened upon a tiny stone. How it caught my attention, I am still not quite sure, but it did. I bent down for a closer look to find it a dull little thing although it did contain a unique fleck of red. And while the stone was really just a pebble the size of a marble, the more I searched it over – the less dull it seemed. Perhaps it was even growing, no, impossible. Rocks don’t grow. 

I dropped the pebble in my pocket and continued along the path. I hadn’t gone but a few steps, when a feline of sorts lunged out of the thick brush and dove for my legs. Scrambling to the side to avoid the large cat, I wasn’t quick enough to walk away unscathed. My pant legs were torn to shreds and I gained a few gashes on my lower legs. I reached for a large stick lying along the path to wield at my new nemesis, but when I turned back around, the feline was already surrendering down the path and back into the brush.

The searing pain from the new gashes caused me to sit down on the edge of the path. Some may consider this an unwise choice, but sometimes odd choices work for a better End than sheer logic. I looked over my wounds and was able to tear a few make-shift bandages from the bottom half of my pants. My feline friend had already done the shredding, so this didn’t involve much effort on my part. As I sat for a moment, I remembered the stone in my pocket and pulled it out for another look. I rolled it in my hands, delighting in the feel of the cool stone across my skin. What an interesting little stone. Had it grown more beautiful? That would be silly to think a stone could grow more beautiful.

Scoffing, I aimed to shove the stone back in my pocket, but in doing so, I found there was a small rip beginning to threaten the integrity of said pocket. I pulled my hand back out and glanced at the stone once again, noticing this time a slightly lighter colored ring banding the rock, giving off the illusion that the stone was glowing from the inside. “What a wonder,” I thought to myself, and instead of putting the stone away, I started once again down the path with the pebble in my hand. Every so often, I would glance down at the pebble, and it must have been the sun’s reflection because every time I glanced down at the rock, the glowing band appeared to grow. “It’s as if this little stone is alive on the inside,” I pondered silently. “That is definitely a ridiculous thought.” I shook my head hoping to eliminate the silly thoughts from returning and placed the stone in the breast pocket of my t-shirt. 

It wasn’t but a few more steps and I tripped over a root on the path, sprawling onto my belly. As I lay there a moment, trying to catch the breath that had been knocked from my chest, I opened my eyes and there lay the pebble just a couple inches from my face. Being unable to move, I stared at the rock. I can’t explain exactly what happened next because there are no words on this earth that fully describe what happens when we are humbled to the point that we stop looking away from the Stone… but what came next, defines Good. 

Romans 9:33 -(a prophecy from Isaiah) Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can’t get around. But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me, you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.

Isaiah 65:1-2 I’ve made myself available to those who haven’t bothered to ask. I’m here, ready to be found by those who haven’t bothered to look. I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’ to a nation that ignored me. I reached out day after day to a people who turned their back on me, people who make wrong turns, who insist on doing things their own way.

The beginning inspiration for this story came from 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (msg) : …At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last world, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?…