Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jer. 1:4-5 NRSVue)

There I sat in the middle of a room of familiar people, people who knew why I would have even shown up for this occasion, and yet I felt so cast aside, ignored and overlooked. It gave me pause to ask myself some questions about the roles I have played in people’s lives and whether or not it was a lie I was told or had I convinced myself that I was somehow more than I really am to the people around me. It was a brutal internal moment, when someone came to me and acknowledged my presence and asked for my assistance. It certainly helped to smooth the moment, but the thoughts lingered throughout the day. Later in the afternoon, as I sat in my studio space, pondering and journaling, I looked up at my little treasure tray and my eyes landed on a piece of geode I picked up somewhere along the way. I took it down, examined it and began to have a good self-talk with God, a reminder from Him that it was not necessarily the way I had seen it or felt it, but also a reminder, that in someway I am not so dissimilar to that geode.

I have had a fascination with rocks since I was a child. They tell me that when I was younger, the family convinced me that pet rocks were a real thing. I insisted I had to have one for Christmas. I got one too. Later, we lived in a developing neighborhood where a road had been cut in the dirt but had not been paved or built up yet. Deposited in the deep ditches were beautiful black cubic crystals, more than likely a type of pyrite. It was a regular thing for me and some of the kids in the neighborhood to search for a perfectly formed and separated piece or to find the largest one, etc. I had a whole collection that has long since been lost. I still pick up pieces of quartz, shale, granite and anything that looks a little different. I was awed a few years ago by the rock formations of the Badlands in SD where it seemed like the landscape was both vertical and horizontal at the same time. So the geode in my treasure tray was the catalyst I needed for the conversation I had with myself and God.

A few months ago, I had listed out some things about myself that the Spirit was leading me to jot down. I was making notes about how I see myself or have seen myself in the past and the Spirit was responding to each one of my statements. One of the statements I made was that I have felt rejected and overlooked to which the Spirit’s response was that I was a gem in a rock. So when I had this moment of rejection happening in real time, I was led to re-read the statement, then I looked at the geode and a few things came to mind. First, I took a lightweight dive into how geodes are formed. It is a long process and to put it in simple terms, it’s about how gases get trapped in sedimentary/lava based rocks and create crystals on the inside. They are similar to agate but the difference is that there appears to be an air pocket that causes the crystals to form inwardly and are only visible when one breaks the rock open. To the naked eye, a geode rock will look like a rather ugly egg shaped rock, not worthy of picking up and certainly not collectible material. On the inside, the many facets of crystals capture light and they glisten.

As I compared the moment I was having with what the Spirit was saying, I began to realize that not everyone can discern a geode and not everyone can discern the gem of person God made me to be. That helped a lot. I began to regain my composure and sense of emotional well-being. I thought about how the exterior of the rock hides the beauty of the rock from undiscerning eyes. Everything is not for everybody. In God’s words to Jeremiah, he was questioning his age and ability to speak for God. God equipped Jeremiah first by letting him know he was created for the moment, then proceeded to help him understand that though he would often be rejected by men, God had not and would not reject Jeremiah. I will never put myself equivalent to Jeremiah, but I do know God called me to do the things I do, and often it comes with a sense of rejection, but I am like that geode; hard but also beautiful. Later the same day, someone who was at the event and connected to my current church, called me and figuratively said, “I opened the geode and I see who you are.” It was the final word I needed.

I am pretty sure that someone who is reading this, may feel or has felt like I did in the moment. Remember that a geode takes time to develop and most will never recognize it when they see one. But at the right time, it will become known and the beauty inside will be plainly visible to all who will take the time to look for it and those are the people we should want in our lives more than anyone else. The flip side of this is that I think we all are a bit like a geode and before we are quick to overlook, reject or toss aside someone because they seem rough on the exterior or don’t fit into our mold of what a person should be, take the time to look inside for the gem of the person that God created them to be and let them know you see them.