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Not Too Late: A Parable
The sun had not yet found it wings
And reached its head over the mountains
As the old man headed for the sea
As he had for millions of mornings past
To ask the ocean for the fish
He needed to earn his daily bread
For he was very old and very poor and very alone.
Still dark, he knew the fish would not
Appear until the sun had awoken
So he slowly treked to his humble boat.
Stumbling on a stone
He came across a bag of pebbles
Lying lost on the empty beach.
He carried it with him to the dock
And to pass his time, waiting for the sun, his only friend.
He began to throw the pebbles out into the vast water
To hear the echo of the "plop" in the dark.
One by one the pebbles flew
And the task amused him as he cleared his mind before his day.
After some time the bag grew close to empty
But the sun was starting to appear in the sky
So he drew what he thought was the final pebble
And heaved it his mighiest out into the sea
Only to be shocked as a ray from the sun
Struck the now visible diamond
Gleaming its beauty back to the old man
Before it sank below the waves into the depths.
The old man grew very quiet and very sad
What a fool he had been!
A bag filled with precious stones
And he had flung them heedlessly to the sea
To pass the time....an amusement
Had cost him the fortune to buy thousands of such amusements
And joys.
"Too late, too late, too late!"
Then, slowly, tenderly, he peered into the empty sack
And realized
There was still one diamond left.
