I’ve been helping a friend out. And he’s been teaching me about different rocks. For example, I’ve learned how to identify Flint and have become really interested in things I can do with Flint I can start fires, I can also use it to learn how to make stone tools just like the indigenous people did. This is something that I hope to learn and pass on to my grandchildren so they will learn to love the creation that God made.
It’s very cool though as I look at these rocks and the hills here in the mountains and I notice how it just shimmers and shines with Micah and there’s some pyrite mixed in. I find the thought of that interesting. As I look at the glimmer and shine of the hills and think of the people who went after land with gold. And they looked at these hills and saw the shimmer and shine and thought they had finally struck it rich.
Then I think of the stories of the people who gave up everything to purchase a place with The Shining and shimmering with the hopes and dreams of having lots of money and striking it rich from all the gold they saw in the hills only to find out that it was pyrite fool’s Gold. Can’t imagine how devastated they were especially when people having falsely promoted the land as being a place where they could make their fortunes and then swindle them out of their hard-earned money.
I think about people. How they can be so much like that pyrite. They can shine and gleam and really seem like something of real value. When in reality there is no value in what they portray. They seem to have everything together; they have the beautiful looks. These people may have the big, beautiful house, the beautiful spouse, perfect dog, and perfect children. People may even invest a lot of time in them hoping for friendships and relationships that have value. Then they discover that they’ve been swindled that there is no depth to that relationship. It only goes as deep as how good you can make them look how much they can shine.
You can tell a lot about the person by the way they treat others. Are they the type to put down those less fortunate? Do they make fun of and laugh at the homeless? Or are they the type of person who cares? Do they go out and help those less fortunate? Do they lift up the homeless do what they can do to help? There are a lot of other factors this is just some examples.
Jesus is consistently seen throughout the gospels as being someone who lifted others up and cared for others and took care of those who needed taken care of. He shared love and peace and Hope. As a matter of fact, the ones he had harsh words with were those whose value was in how they looked and how they shimmered and shined to the public. Those who felt others should worship them for their righteousness. But that was not what Jesus taught. So as a disciple of Jesus my goal is to follow and be like him. So, the question for today is are you fool’s Gold Shining shimmering but no real value? That is not who I want to be!
