An Unknown Teacher Catches Me Smoking in the Boy’s Room by Dale Garman

At my church there is an area behind the building that has a slanted walkway to another entrance to some of the church rooms in the basement.  This walkway encompasses an approximately 8 x 10 area that contains nothing but small rocks – I guess you call them river rock - bunches of rocks.

I go back there sometimes between morning service and Sunday school, because it’s isolated and hidden.  Because I smoke, I try not to smoke in front of little children who may be attending church. 

I went there this morning, and, as usual just contemplated the number of rocks in this enclosure – it baffles the mind.  And the variety! They’re all fairly much the same size – some are a little larger than others.  Some have beautiful colors that catch your eye – or patterns that amaze.   Some have jagged edges, while others appear polished and concise.  Some have extraordinary shapes – others just look like a rock. 

Then, I noticed the rocks as a whole.  Some are on top until some force moves them aside or pushes them down.  Some are currently on bottom until similar forces push them upward and outward.  My current snapshot of the situation really did not reveal why certain rocks were currently on top and some were on bottom.  It’s just the status quo.

I also noticed bits of foreign material every now and then when scanning the rocks.  Over there’s part of a stick lying amid a bunch of rocks, trying to look like a rock but apparently different when examined up close.  And over here is a piece of a candy wrapper garishly being non-conforment.

Then, my eyes fixed on what had happened on the wall that encloses this sea of rocks.  Several of the rocks were placed on top of the wall in some kind of pattern that I don’t think was caused by nature.  Probably a child had been there playing with the rocks.  Selecting certain rocks from the bunches, the child had pulled several rocks of various colors, textures, and patterns aside and placed them into a specific pattern known only to the child.

Why did the child place this gray one here?  And, what was the purpose of placing that polished, beige-colored rock next to the one that looked as though it had been around since the Ice Ages.  And, why the one that obviously is a piece of coal, how did it fit in?  And, above all, why the spiral-shaped pattern for this little subset of rocks pulled from the masses?  Order out of chaos?

Only the little child knows.

I wonder what God thinks when he looks at us.

Appropriately, my Sunday school lesson this morning focused on the Book of Ecclesiastes.