Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

The Stonecutter

April 2, 2009  

There are those in this world (and I am chief among them) who tend to devote a lot of their time to being more and better. Not a bad thing at all, unless of course you start thinking that who you are and what you’re doing now just isn’t good enough. Not true, I say. Not true at all…

I came across this a few days ago and loved it so much that I wanted to share it here. The words are mine, but the story is an ancient one from China:

There was once a stonecutter who lived in a tiny shack on the outskirts of his town. Every morning he would rise out of his simple bed and trudge off to work in the quarries. He hated his tiny job and his tiny shack, but he especially hated his tiny life.

One morning he passed by a wealthy merchant’s house. The gates of the courtyard were open, and through it the stonecutter could see the merchant’s fine possessions and important guests. “I wish I could be that wealthy merchant,” he said to himself. Then he would no longer have to suffer through life with a tiny job and shack and life.

Then, a miracle happened.

He woke the next morning to find that he had indeed become that wealthy merchant. He enjoyed more power and influence than he had ever dreamed and had more riches than he could ever spend. But then a government official passed by the house, carried in a grand chair by servants. Soldiers flanked each side blowing horns and commanding respect. Everyone, no matter how powerful and wealthy, had to bow to the official. “I wish I could become that official,” the man said. “No one could be more powerful than him.”

Another miracle.

He awoke the next morning to find that he was now the government official. He was carried through the city by servants, guarded by soldiers, and everyone was forced to bow to him. But as the day was hot, he noticed the sun was causing him to sweat. And more, he noticed that the sun didn’t care if he was a government official or not. “I wish I could be the sun,” he thought to himself. “Surely there is nothing more powerful than that.”

Then he became the sun, shining his power down upon the earth, giving life and taking it at his own whim. But as he was shining, he noticed a dark cloud pass between him and the land. No matter how hard he shone, the cloud prevented his light from reaching the ground. “I wish I were that cloud,” he said. “Then even the sun would have to obey me.”

And he became the cloud, rolling over the land to bring comfort from the heat and terror with his storms. He was both feared and revered, and no one stood against him. But then he discovered that the wind would blow him here and there without his consent. “No one tells me what to do,” he said. “I want to be the wind!”

So be became the wind, uprooting trees and spreading fires and damaging homes. Nothing, he thought, could stand against him. But then one day he blew against a mountain. A no matter how hard he worked, the mountain would not budge. “I want to be that mountain,” he said.

And he became the mountain. More stable than the merchant, more powerful than the official. Unfazed by the sun and the clouds and the wind. But as he rested there, content and finally at peace, he found that a small part of himself was slowly being chipped away. “What is causing this?” he asked. “I am a giant mountain. What could be more powerful than I?”

He looked down and saw far below a tiny speck hard at work. And with that sight he began to cry, for he knew then all his work and all his dreaming had been for naught.

For below him was the one thing in the world even more powerful than he:

A stonecutter.

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Filed under: living, nature purpose, truth
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Comments

  • gzusfreek

    ooo- that gave me chills! Great story telling Billy!

    I spend too much time trying to be the merchant, the sun, the breeze. . .I hope I can see more of my stonecutting talents and just how powerful they are :)

  • sharilyn

    nice… a great bedtime snack for me to chew upon… thanks.

  • God’s Not Finished With Us Yet…

    I am just getting home from Dallas. My mind is heavy from the days events and I should be going to sleep. But instead I go online and the first site I decide to visit is yours. (Compliment BTW. :D )

    This story reminds me of when I try on clothes; putting on one outfit, then trying on several different ones to see which suites the ‘outing’ more; only to (more often than not) find myself putting back on the very outfit I first chose; the one I thought looked nice. So why didn’t I trust that?

    Thanks for sharing this story. The meaning behind it is so beautiful and a learning lesson I am currently trying to tackle myself; learning to just accept who God made me to be. And if God made me ‘me’, than why on earth would I desire to be anyone else? It’s like trying to fit a square block into a circular shaped hole; it will never fit until it’s placed right in the spot designed just for it.

  • Jenna

    Wow! Love it.

    You are a talented writer and storyteller!!

  • katdish

    I didn’t see that coming until the end. Good stuff. Thanks for the reminder.

  • Joanne Sher

    What a wonderful story, with a lesson we all need so badly. Just excellent.

  • Lianne

    That is profound and beautiful. It would also make a great cartoon. I’m not sure how those two things fit together, but they do. :)

  • Annie K

    Thanks for sharing that. Sometimes we are never satisfied with where we are, who we are… It is good to remember the grass isn’t always greener…

  • Amy

    Billy,
    This is a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing it. Indeed, the message is one of Wisdom. Chasing after anything that is not meant for us, not meant for who we were designed/created to be…is folly.

    Thank you for this reminder. For we humans too often are tempted to compare, constrast and compete with those around us, trying to “be” someone else, but we simply are not.

    Our uniqueness is to be embraced. Such a good message for my heart, everyday, for I often fall into moments to desiring to be “better.” Sure, we are all being transformed more into the character of Christ, yet He desires us to maintain and grow in the unique personalities, styles, interests He so beautifully wired us with.

    Thanks again for this.

    Blessings,
    ~Amy :)

  • Billy Coffey

    Sarah- Thanks for the compliment. Hope everything went well for you!

  • jasonS

    Very, very nice! That was very enjoyable and a great reminder.

  • janelle

    Great story; I want to be a “stone-cutter” and be content with that.

  • lynnrush

    OH goodness.

    Wow.

    Nice post.

    How do you do that–rip my guts out on every post, man. Seriously, there’s not a time when I read your posts that I’m not moved.

    God has blessed you with a gift, Billy.

  • elaine @ peace for the journey

    The tiny life of a stone-cutter. I’ve been thinking about this all morning. And here’s what I think, at least what I am prone to think everytime I divert my thinking toward my seeming “tiny.”

    Stone cutting does seem a tiny thing, unless you’re the mountain being cut upon. Sometimes, that seeming tiny keeps me from even picking up the hammer (as if my participation doesn’t matter that much). And if that’s the case, then mountains remain as they are. Immoveable. My “refusal” is of no threat to the mountain. But my obedience to offer my cut alongside the cutting of my brothers and sisters?

    Well that kind of willingness and faith therein (I’m told) can move a mountain.

    What a privilege it is to cut stones alongside the body of Christ.

    A great story. An even better truth.

    peace~elaine

  • Billy Coffey

    Those are wise words, elaine.

  • Jennifer

    Another great story. When I feel like I’m just chipping away at life, I want to feel content there, in the cleft of the Rock.

  • Sandra

    Wow, just goes to show I may never be content no matter what I become… just kidding! What a great lesson you have shared with us today.

  • Matt @ The Church of No People

    Billy, thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog! It’s always great to meet new people. I really enjoyed your story here. Hope we can talk again soon. For now, God bless and happy blogging!

  • Sarah Salter

    Billy, I heard a saying once, though I can’t remember who said it originally. It goes like this: “Be who ya is, don’t be who ya ain’t, cuz if ya ain’t who ya is, then ya is who ya ain’t.”

    In my life, I’ve had a heckuva time trying to reconcile who I want to be with who God created me to be. Growing up, I always wanted to be what I wasn’t. But now, I find myself looking at my life and saying, “God, thank You for being so much better to me than I’d have been to myself!” His Word says that there’s a way that seems right to me, but if I follow that way, it leads to death. So, I’ll let God choose who I’m to be. Stonecutter… Secretary… Writer… And whatever He chooses for me, I’ll just try to use it as a way to make His name known.

    And thanks for the visits and comments to my blog. The encouragement has been most welcome. :-)

  • manker

    hmmm… variation of the “live like you were dying” theme ?:)

    thanx
    shalom and blessings
    gp

  • Kate

    My daughter had me read this story several times. She says it means, “Just be yourself! He tried to be a merchant, the sun, a cloud, a mountain and now what? Then a tiny speck was hard at work… and that man thought that he could be more powerful than anyone in the world. Then he pretended to be a chipmunk…” OK, she got a little off topic. But she really liked your story.

  • Tammy

    That was a powerful story.

    The stonecutter…I think I might know him or her. We always want to be like somebody else. :(

    Thank you for the encouraging words that you left.

  • valerie lynn

    What a great story! I wish to thank you for commenting on my blog. I was truly blessed by it. Thank you and Blessings to you.

  • Lorrie

    A great lesson Billy ~ thanks for sharing!!!
    Oh, and I’m glad you enabled comments again. I love reading everyone’s responses :-D

  • Annie

    How ironic after desiring the green on the other side of the fence, being who he was in the beginning is what ends up being most desired.
    Learning to be satisfied with who we are and what we have is sometimes difficult, especially today.
    When I get that tickle to want what someone else has or is, I remember…I am observing only the top layer and have no idea what is beneath. This allows me to refocus on the many blessings I already have.

  • Carol

    We do spend too much time wishing and wanting and not realizing how very blessed we are each and every day to be where we are and to be doing what we are doing. Thanks for this powerful reminder!!!