Sabbathought: Ordinary pebbles

A traveler in a strange land had lost his way. He saw at the side of the road an old man, so he asked for directions. The old man told the traveler how to get to his destination and added this: When you come to the river, fill your pockets with whatever you see lying around; if you do so, by nightfall you'll be both glad and sad.

This made little sense to the traveler, but he thanked the old man and continued on his way. Sure enough, at midday with the sun high in the sky he came to a river. Remembering the urging of the old man, he looked around to see what it was he was to fill his pockets with. All he could see were ordinary pebbles, bleached and scorched in the sun. He stooped down and thrust a handful of pebbles into his pocket and continued on his way.

At nightfall he lay down to rest but could not get comfortable for the pebbles in his pocket, so he sat up to take them out. And there in the moonlight he saw that the ordinary pebbles had changed into precious stones---gems and jewels. And he was glad.

Then he became sad that he had not filled both pockets full, . . . and his backpack, . . . and his socks. . . !

What has this to do with us? What is the application for our journey in this strange land of mortality?

President Gordon B. Hinckley some years ago urged, "If I were a bishop or stake president today, what would I do? I think that I would try to put my major efforts into building the spirituality of the people. I would work as hard as I knew how to work in building their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in God our Eternal Father, in the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of this work and what it means and what it is all about.

"I would encourage my people to read the scriptures, to read the Book of Mormon, to read the New Testament. I would urge them with all the capacity I have to read quietly and thoughtfully and introspectively, if you please. I would urge them to read the 'Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith'" (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 608).

Think of Naaman the leper being told by a prophet of God to bathe in the River Jordan seven times (2 Kings 5). Ordinary river . . . ordinary pebbles . . . ordinary advice and counsel.

Many years ago the elders quorum president in our ward said to me, "You are always urging scripture study. . . . I'm not even living up to everything I already know without adding more to the list of what I should be doing."

I was a little taken aback. I said, "Rob, is that how you see the scriptures, as a burden? Have you ever considered that there may be something in them that will give you the courage and help and inspiration to see a way to do what you should be doing?" He confessed he had never looked at it that way. That brief exchange changed his life.

President Ezra Taft Benson urged us to see the scriptures as a marvelous privilege and a blessing, not as a burden laid upon us by the Lord. Your answers are in them, he urged.

President Hinckley said, "Reading the scriptures is not for me the work of scholarship, but rather a love affair with the work of the Lord."

When I taught my seminary students I would urge them to fill their pockets full of the ordinary pebbles they found in the scriptures, with the promise that they would change into precious gems of testimony and help when nightfall came. It is so for all of us.

Is this helpful? Is it important? Is it urgent? Look back on the number of times we see this ordinary pebble in today's Sabbathought: the word "urge".

The scriptures use the word "betimes", and we most often think of that word as meaning "sometimes". It actually means "before it is too late" (see Webster's [1828]).

Hope you have a lovely Sabbath.

Steve