A light burden
Reflecting on the Hymn of the Pearl
From the wealth of our treasury, they gave a great burden, which was light so that I could carry it by myself. Gold from the land above, silver from great treasuries, and stones chalcedonies of India and agates from Kushan and they girded me with steel, Hymn of the Pearl
This passage brings to mind the words of the Master recorded in Matthew chapter 11,
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
When I hear the word ‘burden’ I always think of it being heavy yet in both passages, it is referred to as light.
My mother amongst her many sayings would quip, “Education is easy carried.” For a long time, I heard it but did not understand it then one day I ‘got it’.
Could it be here, in the Hymn, that the writer is speaking of what his parents and his wider circle gave him in terms of immaterial gifts?
While we are enjoying our childhood we are almost oblivious that we are also learning. Those significant others in our lives are teaching us how to eat, clean ourselves, speak, listen, yet so too are they instilling in us how to meet the challenges that we will face later in our lives when they are no longer at our side.
It is only in ‘the going out’ by ourselves that it revealed to us and the world what has been deposited within.
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