Rolling Stones

I was sitting looking at some items I have sitting on a set of drawers in my quiet space, my attention was drawn to a rock that had been cut in half and polished. The outside was crusty with deposits that looked like calcium or broken bits of barnicles, the inside however was multicoloured with crystals and different shapes. I started to think about how much we are like that stone, the outside can be crusty and fairly unattractive while the inside is beautiful when it is seen in the right light. That light is Jesus, He said "I am the light of the world". I remember seeing the Holman painting "Light of the World" in St Paul's Cathedral in London.

We all have beauty that can be brought out from the inside. I remember going to a gem factory and watching semi-precious stones being polished. They were placed in a rotating barrel; lots of stones flushed with them, with water as they turned. I observed the action of stone against stone, the reaction of the stones to constantly flowing water. The activity of water and other rocks was starting to rub out blemishes and polish off chinks, cracks and cuts in the stone surface. We are a lot like this -  God uses the activity of the Holy Spirit (water) and the bashing and crashing against others to begin to erase the blemishes, cuts and cracks in our lives.

When we are around the Holy Spirit and Father our darkness and blemishes come to the light pretty quickly. Over time the interactions with God and others slowly erradicates these faults and we become polished and begin to reflect the beauty that God intended in the first place. I notice my dark spots are becoming glaringly obvious, and more often than not they evolve to the way I see others and react to others. So the closer I get to God the more I see the darkness and more I feel compelled to do something about it.

In the end it comes down to a simple choice: do I want to do something about my darkness or not? Its a bit like deciding whether to start the barrel rotating or not. If it doesn't rotate, all you end up with is wet stones. Some may choose that option, but not for me at this stage!