The
Snow Globe – A Parable
By Stephen
Terry
“Then
he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark
2:27, NIV
A grandfather who loved his grand-daughter very, very much
once gave her a precious Christmas gift. Her eyes widened to see the dancing
snow in the crystal globe as she held the present in her hands. The gift had
been in the family for several generations and the wood base had a patina of
love from the many hands that had held it.
Artificial snow swirled around miniature buildings,
trees, people and animals. She immediately fell in love with this very special
gift. It was hard to take her eyes away from the peacefully drifting
snowflakes. She loved her grandfather for giving her such a wonderful gift. She
decided she would do all she could to show how much she appreciated his gift.
From that Christmas to the next, she made a study of showing her grandfather
how much the gift meant to her.
When the next Christmas came and Grandfather visited
again, he was surprised to see how much his grand-daughter had changed. She
would not play table games with the other children. She was very particular in
what she wore. She would only go outside when it was snowing. She refused the
treats of the season like candy canes and hot chocolate. Her behavior was
peculiarly unlike the little girl of a year before.
Puzzled about her behavior, he sat down beside her in
her bedroom and asked her about the changes. Continually turning the little
globe in her hands as though she were fearful the snow would stop, she lifted
her head until her eyes met his.
“It is easy to explain, Grandfather,” she replied. “I
want you to know how much I value this gift, and how much I love you for it. I
have decided to avoid participating in things that do not appear in the globe.
There are no table games in the globe, so I do not do them. The people in the
snow globe dress a certain way, so I try to dress the same. It is always
snowing in the globe, so I try to only go outside when it is snowing. You see,
I love the globe so much that I want to live as though I was in the globe. And
by doing that, I am showing my love for you also.”
“But wouldn’t you like to do other things?” he asked.
“Well, yes,” she admitted. “But I want you to see that
all my pleasure is in the beautiful present you gave me and not in other
things. That is also why I do not help myself to candy canes and hot chocolate.
It would look too much like I was enjoying something else other than the
beautiful globe.”
“My child, I am sorry now that I placed this gift in
your hands. I meant it to be a blessing to you, a thing of joy. Instead, it has
become a burden. I meant to give the gift to you, not you to the gift. Must I
take it away to set you free?”
Startled at his words, she thought for a few minutes, and
then said, “I see what you mean. When you gave me the gift, you intended for me
to find pleasure in its beauty but you did not intend for that to be my only
pleasure. Am I right?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I know you love the gift. I see your
joy in your eyes, but the happiness I have in seeing your joy is not diminished
when I see your joy in other things. You see, when I was your age, I found joy
in many things. I still do, and I want you to have those joys also. Please do
not let the gift keep you from those experiences. It was meant to be a blessing
and not a burden.”
“Thank you, Grandfather. I see now that the real gift
was not the snow globe, but understanding how to truly show my thanks for the
love you have for me every day.”
With that, she placed the snow globe in its special
place on her bedroom dresser and ran to join the other children in a game of
hide-and-seek.
This Parable is Provided
by Still Waters Ministry
