Deep in the heart of the woods, down the path seldom traveled,
there exists a small body of water known as the World Pool.
Considered sacrosanct by enlightened humanity, its surface is so
smooth, so mirror-like, that you may behold the entire universe within
its depths. Galaxies. Stars. Planets. Moons. The living ecosystem
called “Earth”. Humanity past and present. Even your own face. And
some say that you can even encounter there the face of all faces: God.
Nevertheless, it was inevitable that someone steeped in ignorance
would come along, pick up a stone, and cast it deep into this
“noblest of the elements.” (Pindar) Whatever that intention, whatever
that motive, the consequences of that splash were immediate and severe.
Moreover, its aftermath continues to ripple through every aspect
of the World Pool, both now and for generations to come. Sadly,
there is nothing but the passage of time to heal the damage left in the
wake of such a careless act. Yet, someone who feigns enlightenment
also inevitably comes along to regard those monstrous undulations.
Pausing at the water’s edge for just a moment, he or she pronounces
words like justice and retribution. And then, inexplicably, this
well-meaning individual picks up a stone and casts it, too, into the deep.
But the splash and subsequent ripples do not cancel out the old splash
and its tumultuous ripples. On the contrary, the waters are even more
agitated than before, the disparate waves intersecting at oblique angles
to further distort our pristine universe. Stone after stone, plunk after
plunk, the cycle of chaos reigns supreme upon the once-peaceful waters.
Listen carefully, though and you will hear the faint echo of Rousseau’s
“What can make it right?”
Thus us, the moral: we must, as a united world community, endeavor
to uphold the World Pool as inviolably sacrosanct. We must,
individually and collectively, put an end to casting stones, (John 8:7) for
whatever reason. And with time, we may again come to see our own
faces, and the faces of our fellow human beings, reflected there. Perhaps,
we may even discover the face of God. Yet, if we continue to cast
our stones, the turmoil which engulfs the World Pool will never end,
and we shall never again see clearly the beauty and grace that we were
meant to recognize.
