The Rockhound

A Parable

The Rockhound had a normal life. He had his friends and his job and he liked to go out on the weekends. The Rockhound was a lot like you or me except that he really liked rocks. He would walk to work each day, and as he walked he would pick out a special rock and kick it along with him. He would try to kick the same rock all the way from the pile by his front door to the pile he had at work. He had done this successfully several times. Sometimes he could even find that same rock at the end of the day and kick it all the way back home. The rocks were his friends.

One day, the Rockhound found a rock that was particularly special. It almost seemed to glow in the morning sun. He spent a long time just tumbling it along the sidewalk watching it come to rest on different sides. He kicked it carefully so that it tumbled just along the sidewalk and not in the gutter, and each time it stopped it glinted back in his eyes. When he arrived at work he was quite late. He slipped the rock in his pocket and got right to work, and as he worked, he would occasionally withdraw the rock from his pocket and polish it with his thumb. It seemed to glow just a little bit more each time he took it out.

When the Rockhound finally got done with work he went straight home to his hammer and caliper so that he could examine the special rock more carefully. He did not kick anymore rocks on the way. As he washed and polished the rock, the Rockhound began to realize that he had found a very special rock indeed. When it was clean the rock glowed a deep green and the Rockhound knew he had found an emerald. He tried to cut the emerald to shape but was overcome and had to stop. Tears streamed down his cheeks. It was the most beautiful rock the Rockhound had ever found.

The Rockhound called his mom to tell her what he had found. She told him to come over so that she could see the perfect emerald. He took the jewel to show his mother, and then he took it to show his sister. After that he took it to his brother, and then to his uncle. The Rockhound showed the emerald to his whole family that week and all agreed that he had been very lucky to have found such a perfect emerald.

Next the Rockhound took the jewel to work. He showed it to his boss and to his coworkers, some of whom he did not know. He even showed the owner of the company. They too agreed that he had been very lucky, and added that he might be able to make a good living as a rockhound if he could find more jewels like this one.

Soon the Rockhound took the jewel with him everywhere he went, and everywhere he took the jewel he showed it off. Everywhere the Rockhound showed off the emerald all would agree it was perfect. Soon the Rockhound began to wonder if he might be able to find another green emerald. He began to kick rocks on the way to work again. Some even turned out to be special rocks, though none as beautiful as the perfect green emerald. He began to try harder now, leaving the jewel at home so that he could focus on finding others. More and more the jewel began to feel like just another special rock, and after a while the Rockhound had forgotten how special it had been to him. He stopped to admire the jewel less and less. One day he looked where he had put it and it was gone altogether. He didn’t know when it had left or with whom. “It’s okay, I was board of that rock anyway,” he said to himself, “And besides, I’m going to find another one.” He spent more time looking. Instead of going out on the weekends, he would walk new routes, picking up each rock to inspect it along the way. Buy try as he might the Rockhound could not find another perfect green emerald. In fact, he could not even find any other jewels, and though he kept looking, he began to realize that he had been very lucky indeed. This made the Rockhound sad and although he continues to look and to hope, the Rockhound has yet to find any more jewels.