The Parable of the Rock

As we walk around, we inevitably get rocks in our shoes. We can kick them in ourselves or they can get kicked in by others, those who walk past us or those we walk with. The rock causes pain and discomfort. If we continue to walk with the rock in our shoe we get more and more uncomfortable and the pain increases. Screaming, shouting, hollering and the like will not help us get the rock out. In fact, it will only increase the pain and discomfort caused by the rock in our shoe. There is no reason to continue walking with the rock in our shoe, so we stop to remove it. We can’t just stand there and think to ourselves, “Rock be removed. Get out.” The rock will not magically disappear. To get it out we must do something. It requires effort on our part to get the rock out of our shoe and relieve us of the pain and discomfort. Sometimes we need to ask for help to get the rock out, or we might have to sit down, change our position, and even take the shoe off. Once the rock is removed we can continue on our way. We might even laugh about the rock as we go.

This is a parable I came up with one night as I talked with Ben. I'm sure you can relate it to lots of different things so I'll just leave it at that. I just thought I would share. It was a special moment for me - insightful - and hopefully I can remember it, and remind Ben ,so that we can remember what we learned. Maybe it will really help us.