A story ...

The story goes something like this:

A rabbi had a gem of great value that he kept tucked safely away in his basement wrapped in a rag. One day as he took it out to examine it, the gem fell from his hands and rattled away in the dark shadows of the basement ... He looked for it for a time, then with a shrug of his shoulders, he went up stairs and poured himself a cup of tea.

When he finished with his tea he walked out the front door of his house and bent down and began searching the grass and flower beds.

"What are you doing Rabbi?" asked a young boy walking past.

"I'm looking for something I've lost," replied the Rabbi on his hands and knees still searching.

"What did you lose?" asked the young boy, intrigued.

"I've lost a gem of enormous value," replied the Rabbi pausing to glance up at the young boy.

"I'll help you search," said the young man as he clambered over the fence.

Soon the young boy was joined by other youngsters from the neighbourhood. Each told in turn what they were searching for, and each climbing over the fence to pick through the grass and bushes.

Finally with a dozen or more children searching for the gem and finding no sign of it the young boy turned to the Rabbi and as he wiped sweat from his forehead looked in the Rabbi's face and asked: "Are you sure you lost your gem here?"

"Oh no," laughed the Rabbi glancing at the young faces gazing at him with a confused look, "I did't lose the gem here. I lost it in the cellar."

The young man stared at the rabbi for a moment before speaking, "BUT, if you lost it in the cellar, why are we looking for it out here?"

"Because it is much better light out here ..." said the Rabbi ...

When I first heard this story it was used to frame a conversation about the Church and our tendancy to stay only in the brightly lit places while avoiding the dark uncomfortable places ... we are searching for a lost gem, but we are searching in the wrong place ...