“The kingdom of heaven
is like a man who was leaving on a trip.
He called his servants and handed his
possessions over to them.”
Matthew 25:14 (Common English Bible)
Since I was a child I have collected – and adored – conch
shells, more specifically, the queen conch variety. I grew-up in Atlanta,
Georgia. But once every two years my family vacationed in the Florida Keys. A
family tradition that developed was a stop at Shell World located in the first
key, Key Largo. It is a tradition I have now resumed with my wife each time we
travel to the Keys. Whether for the day or a weekend, each trip to the Florida
Keys includes a stop a Shell World. And, on most of those stops, I select and
purchase a queen conch. It is a meaningful tradition and I now own dozens of
these beautiful shells – six of them in my office! Each purchase connects me to
a cherished childhood memory.
The queen conch is found off the coast of Florida and
throughout the Caribbean. The shell is valued as a decorative souvenir and –
historically – by Native Americans and indigenous Caribbean peoples to create
various tools. The animal that lives within the shell, a marine mollusk, is
enjoyed in a variety of seafood preparations. Though not an endangered species
as a whole, the queen conch is now protected in Florida waters due to extreme
overfishing. The queen conch shell sold by Shell World is responsibly sourced
from various Caribbean islands where the conch populations are healthy.
As a child, I chose to collect the queen conch over other
varieties of beautiful shells because of their affordably. There are other
varieties of shells that many would consider more striking in their complexity
and beauty than the queen conch. And they are much more expensive to purchase.
But today, as an adult, I have found a deeper and richer appreciation for
surrounding myself with this beautiful shell, in both my home and office. In
some South Pacific cultures, a speaker holds a conch shell as a symbol of a temporary position of authority.[i]
“Leaders must understand who holds the conch – that is, who should be listened
to and when” writes Max De Pree. As a follower of Jesus Christ I also have been
given temporary authority to declare God’s love for a hurting world.
In this rich passage from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches
this spiritual principal in a parable, commonly called the Parable of the
Talents. In the story – or parable – a man is leaving on a trip. He calls his
servants and distributes his possessions to them. What becomes clear in the
larger story is that these possessions are not transferred property. The man
who is leaving retains ownership. The possessions are simply entrusted for a
period of time to the management of the servants. And upon the man’s return,
the servants will be held accountable for their temporary responsibly with his
possessions. The queen conch shells in my home and office remind me each day of
the tremendous privilege – and responsibly – that has been entrusted to me to
declare the depth of God’s love until the day Jesus returns.
Joy,
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