During elementary school music class, we sang a children's song with lyrics like this: "Break the boulder into rocks, break the rocks into stones, break the stones into pebbles, break the pebbles into grains of sand~♬. "
The title of this song is "Stone and Water", and the lyrics were written by the late Yoon Seok-jung (John), a children's literature writer. Yoon Seok-jung's lyrics are masterpieces that can still bring us back to childhood.
Like the lyrics of "Stone and Water," large boulders gradually break down over time and eventually turn into grains of sand. This process, known as weathering in geology, involves physical and chemical actions such as erosion by flowing water, volume changes due to temperature differences, and weathering by wind and living organisms.
A large, flat stone is called a rock (盤石), and according to the Korean dictionary, it is a metaphorical expression for a very solid object, idea, or foundation.
One of Jesus' disciples was given the name Peter. Jesus called Simon, who was living as a fisherman near the Sea of Galilee, and made him his disciple, saying, “You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18) and gave him the name Peter (meaning rock, in Greek, Petros).
Peter was crucified upside down in 64 AD by the tyrannical Roman Emperor Nero, and Constantine the Great built a temple over his tomb in 324 AD. In 1506, Pope Julius II began to expand this temple, and after about 100 years, it became the current St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis opened the Holy Year Door of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on December 24, ushering in the Jubilee of 2025. As we celebrate the Jubilee, let us pray and think that the Lord's peace may descend upon the world, especially our country.
How long will it take for our hearts, minds, and faith to crumble? Every single grain of dirt we step on can be a lesson to us. It takes thousands of years for a rock to become a grain of sand. However, the human heart can crumble at any moment due to the weathering of worldly temptations and weaknesses. Will our firm beliefs crumble like dirt with the passage of the years? To overcome these turbulent times, we must be like a rock that can withstand long-term weathering in our beliefs, uprightness, and faith.
["The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." (Matthew 7:25)]
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