WHAT IS IT ABOUT STONES?

What is it about stones? So many of us are drawn to them.

The accompanying photo illustrates this phenomenon. It shows a collection of pebbles picked up over a lifetime of travel around the world. It belonged to my Aunt Mary Lou. In one stone she etched “Greece, 1979.” In another “Syracusa, Sicily.” Other stones are from Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Russia, China, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, and places I don’t remember.

Why, like so many people around the world, did Mary Lou stoop to pick up stones when she walked on Earth?

An obscure Eastern European fable offers an explanation. In The Thirteenth Gift we

learn about a kingdom that was suffering as a result of growing fears. One night the inhabitants of that kingdom entered a deep sleep, visited the dream realm together, and shared a vision: Everyone saw how all creation breathes together in the heart of Love. In the morning, rousing from sleep, everyone held a shimmering stone. Like the details of the dream, each stone faded and disappeared within moments. Yet each stone had remained in hand long enough to anchor the vision. According to the story, that is why people are drawn to stones. Stones urge us to hold on to the truth of who we are. We pick them up because we yearn to remember who we are, to see the world with wonder, and to experience the truth of the dream that lives in the consciousness of all humanity.