- CROP Walk October 6th
- Death Cafe September 21st at 4pm
- Harvest Supper November 2nd at 5:30pm (eat in or take away meal)
Watch the video HERE (video posts late Sunday morning)
I once read a story about an old wise woman who had a “precious stone”.
One day, a traveler came by and shared her fire. When she was getting something from her bag, he noticed the precious stone and knowing how much it was worth, he asked her to give it to him. She said, “Of course,” and handed over the stone without hesitation. She turned back to her cook pot and offered him a meal.
In the morning, he left with the precious stone knowing that he would be set up for the rest of his life. He would be the richest man in the world. He could buy everything he needed for the rest of his life and then some!!
A few weeks later, he returned to the old wise woman and sat down at her fire, holding the stone. She watched him and continued to stir the stew in the pot.
As she gave him a bowl of stew, he looked up at her and held out the precious stone to her. She took it and he asked, “Please teach me what you know that made you give me that precious stone without hesitation.”
We all have our own precious stone that we carry with us always. Sometimes it is hidden within. Sometimes, it is awakened by the blessings around us. Sometimes, it is grubby and dirty and we don’t know what we have. Sometimes, we see other people with their precious stones and we want it…badly. Sometimes, a precious stone is offered to us and we run with it, afraid that someone will take it away. Sometimes, we hide it. Sometimes, we hide from it. Sometimes, we offer it freely to one another.
We might wonder what the precious stone is. Perhaps it is the pearl that Matthew speaks of. Perhaps it is the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps it is the divine spark that resides each our hearts. Perhaps it is the Joy that God has hidden within us (and all around us) so that we do not forget. Perhaps it is everything. Perhaps it is nothing.
For today, to keep with the theme of the children, let’s consider the “precious stone” as Joy. If you are unsure that Joy is the greatest of the treasures of the Stories, let’s consider that it is thought that Jesus has three faces in this world. One is the face of suffering. One is the face of joy. One is the face of compassion.
Suffering happens. Compassion is “suffering with”. Which leave us with Joy as our day to day Way of Jesus.
Many of us have been blessed to experience those special people who bring a sense of Joy into this world and our lives regardless of what’s going on in their own lives or around them. These are precious people! People who can teach us something.
We are told that our work is to shine our loving face toward the world—Joy. We are told that God shines a loving face toward us—Joy. No matter what is happening in our lives, God is leaning toward us with love…and that means God is leaning toward us with joy.
Love leads to Joy and Joy leads to Love.
Perhaps our precious stone is Joy AND Love…
Life isn’t always easy. No where were we told that God will take away our cares and worries, our hardships and despair. No where were we promised an easy life. But God offers us an anchor of Grace within our cares and worries, hardships and despairs. Perhaps, this is the precious stone.
Like thoughts around Love, one might think that Joy can’t possibly be the answer to what we are meant to do or be. It seems such a small and tender thing. Practicing Joy is the world can feel a bit…like we’re burying our head in the sand of what’s happening in the real world or it might feel like a selfish thing to notice and take joy in the goodness of our lives when we should be looking toward what’s wrong and what needs to be “fixed”.
There’s got to be “more”. Joy seems so simple (and yet so hard), there’s got to be “more” we should be doing. We so easily get caught up in that “more” thing. It’s never enough thing. But imagine a world where we put all of our attention to bringing God’s Joy into this world. PAUSE. Imagine that world!
Perhaps Joy is the mender of a broken world. Perhaps Joy is the “more” we need. Maybe Joy could be the healer of this world. Love leads to Joy and Joy leads to Love.
Still not sure that Joy is the answer?
Let’s consider not joy, but the opposite of Joy. Any thoughts or suggestions for words that might be the opposite of Joy? Here’s some ideas. Boredom? Dullness? Dislike? Hate? Judgement? Indifference? Giving up? Apathy? … (Pause and Ponder)
If Joy leads to love and love leads to joy, where does the opposite of joy lead? What leads us to the opposite of joy? Boredom? Dullness? Dislike? Hate? Judgement? Indifference? Giving up? Apathy? … (Pause and Ponder)
Maybe joy is beginning to feel more and more important. Maybe it’s beginning to feel like Joy just might be our life’s call. Maybe we’re beginning to feel the kindling of joy within.
Joy leads to love. Love leads to joy. Jesus shines a joyful face into this world. God leans toward us with love and joy.
Like Love, joy is not meek, small, or tender. Joy is fierce!! Joy is powerful. Joy just might be the precious stone. It might be the pearl. It might be the field. It might be the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever the precious stone is. It is infinite. It belongs to us and everyone. Perhaps when we give it away…it comes back to us tenfold. Perhaps those who are wise know to give the precious stone away, because only together does life unfold into its deepest and greatest potential rooted in Joy, in Love, and in Grace.
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 