Some Stones Are Just Too Heavy

Mississippi Delta boy climbing rock wall at Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, MS

ALERT: This was first published in the name of Poor William, the roustabout vagabond Bohemian pillager, who pilfered his kinfolk Pontificus’ opining. Poor William was trying to impress his mother by making her believe he had scribbled his dear brother’s stolen sermon. His mother didn’t fall for it. Poor William remains contrite!

(Clarksdale, Mississippi) by PONTIFICUS MINIMUS

“Man who lives to throw stones should understand trajectory of boomerang,” so says Pontificus Minimus. Jesus was emphatic about the consequences awaiting his children when they judge others not in

accordance with scripture. Matthew 7:2-4 leaves little to the imagination regarding how He felt about focusing on the peccadilloes of others instead of our own.

“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

It is not a light thing to judge others when they fall, but to do so with malice, condescension and in the form of gossip is a personal invitation for a wealth of self-induced heartache.

Now, there is an ample amount of scripture not exempting the Christian from appropriately judging others or being judged, but this is not the judgment Pontificus Minimus is referencing.

Someone close to Pontificus Minimus did something unwise: something she has admitted to, is sorry for, will not do again, and on her own initiative has counseled younger kids to avoid.

The One who counts has forgiven her, she has forgiven herself, but many expect her to wallow in what God has removed as far as the East is from the West. According to his Word, He remembers it no more.

She has been castigated, excoriated, singled-out gender-wise, alienated, and basically been shown she no longer has inherent worth, which is antithetical to how God sees us–created in His image.

When the mighty fall, the small revel. Why do we feel better about ourselves when our fellow man stumbles?

Pontificus Minimus is still given to judging unjustly, but he has learned from a lifetime of heartache that God loves him too much to let him get away with thinking more highly of himself than he ought.

Pride is an ugly thing and it surely does precede a fall. Some high horses are too tall to ride, just as some stones are too large to throw.

Martha Jane taught her children an axiom worthy of reflection: “We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.”

Why do we judge ourselves by our intentions and not by our actions, but we judge others by their actions instead of their intentions? We don’t truly know what is in the heart of another.

In Bible school, Pontificus Minimus would spend long nights discussing non-essential theological conundrums such as, “If God can do anything, then can he create a stone too big to pick up?”

No, God will not create a stone so heavy He cannot lift it–why would He? As fallen members of God’s most important creation, too often we enjoy other people’s pain and angst. We try to lift stones beyond our ability to throw.

And, any stone we throw at others will by definition be too heavy, as even a tiny pebble hurts when the boomerang effect hurls it back toward us at the speed of light.

We do not need others to remind us daily all the areas where we fall short. Most of us are acutely aware of our failings.

So, join Pontificus Minimus in recognizing the truth in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, “the goodness of God leads us to repentance.”

Let’s spread the love, be good to others, and in so doing be good to ourselves down the road when we will surely fall.