Do you remember ever going on a hike or a walk and suddenly coming upon an area of large rocks? In the past when this has happened to me, my first instinct was to go bound about from rock to rock, or to climb to the top of the highest rock, hoping for a spectacular view. Back in college one of the science classes I took delved into rocks, a lot of rocks. The class studied and identified an endless amount of rocks. I remember back then being displeased upon finding out that there is massive amounts of information to learn about rocks. The geological world back then, seemed to me, to be fascinated with inventing more and more information on these hard and sometimes colorful objects. Their differences or aggregate, what their makeup was, crushed, sand, gravel, on and on, it seemed... like what's their matter? Sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks, my head spun. I began to imagine that it would take years and years of study to get to the end of the rock, and then some so-called expert would find something else to say about them. After much study of rocks, I found out that rocks are rather interesting and their stories are fascinating, and some rocks are expensive, like lavishly. References to rocks are found in millions of books, advertisements, pictures, etc. Back in College, I pretty much hated rocks and wished I would never see one again. I guess the class I took was hard and it required a lot of time and energy, much like the rock. In Western Culture if you asked most anyone about a rock, St. Peter would be a logical character in history whom they may automatically recall. We are all well aware that a fisherman from the Middle East named Simon was dubbed Cephus-stone. Simon might have been given that name so that he would think long and hard about the meaning of the name. Rocks are pretty cool and are used in many ways to exemplify qualities of people, like great leaders, strong speakers, enduring athletes, things of the like. They have a persona about them. I kind of admire the rocks image, rocks are shown to not bend or change quickly, and their composition means everything to what they are. I think we all want to be rocks, metaphorically, and that is why they are used in so many motivational speeches. The "rock person," is someone who is dependable and does not sway easily in any direction, someone solid in their beliefs. A "rock person" is someone you would want to be around and have as a friend, someone who will be there for you in good times and bad and they won't change, unless it is to become even more of a "rock person." Simon had the right material and he became a rock, perhaps we can follow in his footsteps. He became a good friend to Jesus who molded him into a solid rock, not with aggregate materials, but with solid teaching. Jesus was able to do this with Simon who probably needed a lot of time a pressure, so to speak. I think we could all become rocks, like Peter. You, and I and especially, you! Let me know what you think!
You Rock! ;)
Rock on...