I’ve been thinking a lot lately about rocks.
Yep, rocks.
Rocks seem to be something everyone wants to see.
Don’t believe me?
How many visitors to the Grand Canyon are there every single year? And what are they looking at? A hole in the ground that the river carved through - rocks
When I was at the Grand Canyon I seldom heard the English language, most of the languages I heard were from Europe or Asia that said, what do Americans go to Europe and Asia to see?
Castles, churches, walls, statues –
all made of….....wait for it….ROCK!
When I was little I used to “collect” rocks. I’d go out in my backyard and sift through the dirt and sand and find what I felt were the most beautiful rocks ever seen! Most of them were granite or quartzite and they sparkled a little and had bumpy black flecks that made each piece unique.
Every little girl looks forward to that one special rock. Funny thing I found out, if you have to get rid of it the thing isn’t worth the paper its value is written on and getting rid of it is next to impossible.
It is possible to deface, damage, and ruin rock. Sometimes it takes effort and other times all it takes is a small bump.
We talk about “rock” solid relationships and “rock” solid friendships. The truth of the matter is that "rock" solid depends on what kind of “rock” those things are built upon.
Is it metamorphic?
Igneous?
Sedimentary?
How did your “rock” solid start? How has it changed?
Rock changes. It does! I swear! Not like trees or flowers that change with the seasons, no. Rocks change on a much larger, longer, more permanent scale and that change is largely determined by the environment the rock is in.
A rock that is in a river or stream can be bounced and jostled through the water to a clean, cool, glassy smoothness.
A rock that is under a glacier is cracked and popped apart and ground down, the force exuded upon it leaving it in smaller and smaller jagged pieces.
A rock that is porous, like limestone and sandstone can have holes worn through it by water and wind. Sometimes when you look at that rock you won't even know the holes are there until you step hard and fall through or tap the rock and hear the hollow ring coming from inside.
Lava is molten rock that has welled up from inside and exploded onto the surface to harden and create a new landscape, usually destroying anything in its path.
Granite, marble, jade and bedrock take significantly more time to bend to the outside forces that work upon it and changes are not seen nearly as obvious to those who are only here for, in rock years, the blink of an eye.
Let’s face it, no matter how “rock” solid that one thing is in your life it will change.
Maybe it will change quickly and smoothly. Perhaps it will be put under such pressure that it has to crack, or something will wear through it unnoticed until such a time as the surface is worn so thin that it has to give, leaving a big hole, or maybe it will explode and harden around you.
Even if we feel that we are made of the hardest rock out there, whether we realize it or not, there are outside forces changing us. Most of the time we can’t see those changes until the passage of time has left its mark and we look back at what we were, then look at what we’ve become.
What do we do to each other? We like to look, peer, gaze, study, especially when we've been apart for a long time what do we hear?
"OH!! You've changed so much!" or "OH!! You haven't changed a bit!"
Often the problem we have with looking at each other in brief snippets of time - is that we don't have the luxury of having the NPS post signs at each of our erosion or changing areas
"Caution! Revegetation in progress, do not walk!" or "Caution! Weak cliff edge, do not pass this point!"
And, often unknowingly, we cause damage to someone who is eroding, being crushed, or ready to explode and harden. We would do well to stand back and look at where we are going to tread before taking a step, or even better, step back and thoughtfully admire whoever it is we're looking at and then not step at all.
No two rocks are the same, different rocks react differently to the various forces exuded upon it. It is up to us to read some signs, appreciate what we see and -
We certainly do not want to be the person who destroys the Grand Canyon or defaces DaVinci's David! So why would we ever want to harm another person?
"A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether or not to say it."
