Marbles

I watched as the marbles were poured out on the floor.
Since there was a carpet, the marbles didn’t roll too far.
The light captured the swirls perfectly.
Each marble was unique.

I have a jar of marbles.
I have a marble roller on a window seat in my kitchen.
Marbles have always intrigued me.
Ironically, I never actually played a game of marbles nor know how it is done.

Never mind that.
To me, marbles are aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Simple but not simple when you really look at them.
Imperfectly beautiful.

I watched as the child sorted the marbles.
Seeming to sort them by color, he made many piles on the rug.
Some piles had many marbles; some had only a few.
One large marble that didn’t match the rest lay off by itself.

No actual line divided the piles from one another.
However, no marble rolled over to another pile.
No marble was moved to another pile.
Each group stayed exactly where it was placed.

Except the one large marble off by itself.

The child seemed proud of his accomplishment.
All the marbles sorted and put in their place.
All the marbles stayed where they belonged without crossing the line.
All the marbles were ordered, manageable, and controlled.

Another child walked over and watched the sorting process.
He watched intently as blue swirls stayed with blue swirls.
He watched as imaginary lines kept the piles of marbles apart.
He glanced over the controlled order.

The child walked over to the lone marble off by itself.
He bent down.
With one precise move, he flicked his finger against the large aggie.
That one move sent the other marbles rolling.

Piles disappeared.
Blue mixed with red.
Swirls mixed with other swirls.
Piles were destroyed with one precise move.

The pile-maker was astonished.
His lip quivered.
A cry of protestation was rising in his throat.
But no cry was heard.

There were giggles.
There was laughter.
There was joy in the mixing.
Instead of sorted piles, there was a splash of color all across the rug.

Solids and swirls rolled in all directions until they finally stopped.
The one large marble that caused all the commotion was right in the center of the action.
One precise move changed everything.
Only one move.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in the flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household built on the foundation of the apostles ad prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:14-20)

One precise move.
One willing Son submitting to His Father’s will.
Jesus is the Large Marble.
Off by Himself, outside the city.

His obedience, His submission was the force that changed it all.
His words, Not as I will, but as You will, set everything in motion.
Man-made piles and sorting were scattered and destroyed.
In its place, colors and swirls rolled along together.

We are like the first little boy.
We pigeon hole.
We categorize.
We are the professional separators.

We need the One Precise Move of Jesus to destroy the barriers.
We need the Large Marble to destroy the dividing wall of hostility.
We naturally gravitate towards division as we put ourselves and others in their place.
Jesus only has two categories: the sheep and the goats.

The believers and the unbelievers.
Those who know Him and those who don’t.
Those who fed Him, clothed Him, and gave Him something to drink.
Those who failed to do that to the least of these, which was really doing it to Him.

Only two groups.
In the group that knows Jesus as Lord and Savior, there is a beautiful splash of color.
All nations, all languages come together around Him.
One precise move set in motion by the hand of God.