THE PARABLE OF THE BLACK PEBBLE

Once upon a time, in a small village, a farmer found himself in the unfortunate position of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. 

The moneylender, an old and unattractive man, had his eye on the farmer’s beautiful daughter, so he made a proposal.

He promised to forgive the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the offer.

The cunning moneylender, however, suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He explained that he would place a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty moneybag. Then, the daughter would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

-If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife, and her father’s debt would be forgiven.

-If she picked the white pebble, she would not have to marry him, and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.

-But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a path covered in pebbles in the farmer’s field. As they spoke, the moneylender bent down to pick up two pebbles. The sharp-eyed daughter noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and placed them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Upon careful consideration, three possibilities seemed apparent:

-The girl could refuse to pick a pebble.

-She could expose the moneylender’s dishonesty by revealing that there were two black pebbles in the bag.

-Or, she could pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself to save her father from debt and imprisonment.

She prayed about it, and the solution came to her. The girl reached into the moneybag, drew out a pebble, and, without looking at it, accidentally dropped it onto the pebble-strewn path, where it immediately blended in with the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag at the remaining pebble, you will be able to tell which one I picked.”

Since the remaining pebble was black, it could only be assumed that she had picked the white one.

The moneylender, unwilling to admit his dishonesty, found himself trapped by the girl’s cleverness. She turned what seemed like an impossible situation into a great advantage for herself.

Solutions to life’s challenges aren’t always found by our own reasoning alone. When we turn to God for help, we open ourselves to solutions that may initially seem strange or impossible. In the stillness of prayer, we become more receptive to wisdom and understanding that comes from God.