Ever since I was a boy I have had this fascination with stones and pebbles. At one stage I even wanted to become a geologist; and could tell the name and origin of many fine specimens.
However, with time I may have lost the desire to do the scientific research or to understand the names, but I have never lost my fascination for observation and collection. They don’t have to be gemstones, just interesting and different. For example, once I actually found a pebble in the school yard that looks just like a small starfish on a rock! Another stone I found had a cross marked on it; whilst another looks like a potato and yet another is the shape of a heart and another is the shape of a small foot! How fascinating!
From time to time friends and family have given me a gift of a pebble or stone. My eldest granddaughter Bella recently had wrapped and proudly presented me with two very special white shiny stones for my 60th birthday. The stones were very special, but even more so was the joy that it brought her to be able to give them to her ‘Gramps’.
Often times I find opportunities for using pebbles in my Chaplaincy work, especially working with kids on self-esteem. There have been students who as they have held a chosen pebble in the hands, have been stumped for words as they realize that they are holding something that is uniquely one-of-a-kind … but then even more so as they realize that they too are indeed uniquely valuable as a one-of-a-kind individual. Not so long ago, one student cried as she held ‘her stone’ she had identified as most like her, which I then gave to her.
Similarly, as I share this simple concept with adults - of one’s uniqueness being just like the stone which is a ‘one-of-a-kind’ – there is quite often an emotional response. Just recently, a 70+ year old man also shed a tear as he was touched in his heart when he realized the reality of this profound truth. When he received his pebble he gave me a very big hug!
One student, who had been struggling self-harming thoughts, was deeply touched holding his pebble as he realized that he too was unique and valuable, that he declared: “Gary you have saved my life!”
Some time ago, a friend of mine handed me piece of writing that I to share. The words express another simple yet powerful insight into the use of pebbles. Here it is:
A small trouble is like a pebble.
If one holds it close to their eyes, it fills the whole world and puts everything else out of focus.
If the pebble is held at a proper distance, it can be examined objectively for what it is worth.
If the pebble is thrown into a pond or lake, it creates a series of ripples that travel to the extreme edges of the water or else fades out into oblivion — whilst the pebble sinks out of sight.
If the pebble is thrown on the ground, it is seen in its true setting — as a tiny bump in one’s path. **
This little piece of prose of course illustrates just one simple thought in the use of a pebble, but maybe some time you might just like to test it out. Be careful though, with whom you share what you have done however … they might think that you’ve got rocks in your head!
Chaplain Gary
** Source unknown
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