The Heartbeat of A Stone

The world is turning
in the body of Jesus and
the future is possible. - Lucille Clifton 

The great Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran penned a short parable once about two men engaged in a debate over the oneness of things.  

In order to make his point that all things in Creation are connected, the older and wiser of the two asked his companion to pick up a stone that was lying at his feet, and then said to him: 

All things live and glow in the knowledge of the day and the majesty of the night.  You and the stone are one.  There is a difference only in heartbeats. 

When I read that it resonated with me so much.  The idea of stone having a heartbeat... that there is a mysterious and wonderful kind of energy and life in all of Creation...  all of it just left me humming with reverence.  

And because I'm a nerd about these things, all kinds of Bible passages went through my head.  

Like the moment when Jesus told by religious leaders to tell his followers to stop praising God on Palm Sunday: “I tell you... if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

Or when the writer of John's Gospel declared that "through [Christ] all things were created... there is nothing created that wasn't created through [Christ]."  (John 1:3)

Or when Paul wrote: "He is before all things, and in him, all things hold together." (Col 1:17)

It all makes sense when you pause for a moment and consider not only what you feel and experience in Creation, but what you also discover in the biblical witness.  

The Franciscans refer to Creation as the "First Testament" with good reason.  And when you begin to read the Bible with that as a lens, it opens up the text in amazing ways.  

So go outside today.  Breathe in the air, pay attention to your surroundings, consider the stones at your feet.  

Pause and give thanks that you are one with all that you see, united through the power of the Holy Spirit in Christ, who is in all things, and through whom all things are made possible---even your own redemption and rescue.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.  Amen.