A man was hiking in the mountains out West when he saw the stone—a small one, about the size of a half-dollar, with smooth rounded edges. Ordinarily he would have passed it by, not being a rock hound. It would have remained there for another thousand years perhaps, a mere pebble among the larger stones on the trail. But this one instantly caught the eye. It was special. Glinting in the sunlight, it seemed to reflect all the surrounding colors, as though trying to mirror nature. Into my pocket went the rare find. All the way home to the East Coast the man thought about where he should display it so its beauty could be most enjoyed. He finally placed it in a curio cabinet, next to some jade and carved ivory. He forgot it for a while. Then one day, while dusting, he was surprised to see that the stone had completely lose its luster. It sat on the shelf among the other lovely objects, a hard, gray chunk of nothing, downright ugly. The man was shocked. What had happened to the prize he had so carefully brought back with me across the continent? Where was the sparkle and the colors that had attracted me so much? Disgusted, he snatched it up and started for the trash can in the backyard. Then, just as he opened the kitchen door, a beam of light struck the stone. As though by magic, it began to shimmer, to glow again. In an instant the beautiful jewel tones shone brilliantly. Had they returned? Or had they always been there, dormant, waiting to be released? Wondering, he glanced up at the sky. Sunlight? That was the answer. The rays from the sun were all the stone needed to come alive. How much like each of us! Of ourselves our lives are empty, colorless, without meaning. Only when we are touched by the glory of God is our inner beauty revealed.