For all of you who are new to these episodes, I felt I owed a recap of the characters and stories related to these adventures. JC is an actual superhero that magically jumps from within the pages of His own comic book. He comes in the form of a human, somewhat limiting Himself, but always seems to show up with perfect timing into our world to help save the day or teach us some truth. Weird thing is He says He likes being with us humans and enjoys relating to us in this way. Whitey is His faithful, majestic steed. He sure knows his way around the galaxy. JC's power also extends to us, His "brothers", as He calls us. We are only human, but when JC comes around, we suddenly become like superheroes-a dream come true for us!
I digress. Back to the story! We brothers were taking an early Sunday morning walk to Johns' house. He lived up the beach in one of his dad's boats. Fishing had been his family's trade for generations. It was his turn to cook breakfast and host our weekly bible study and fellowship. The sun was just coming up on our left over the water as we walked on the beach. There was a rare calm that morning. The low light turned the tops of the dark grey ripples to silver across the bay. A strange white dot appeared floating on the water way off in the distance. It was coming to shore, and we kept our eyes on it periodically, curious as to what it was.
"Can you believe that treasure Tommy found in that field?", I asked Luke. Tommy had been hired to care for a plot of land for a family that had long since passed away. While he was plowing, he had unearthed a huge jar of buried treasure. He immediately buried it again and ran off to the court house and check for any family heirs that owned the land. Unbelievably, there was no one left in line to inherit the land or its valuables! The State had taken over its ownership and it was for sale, so Tommy, gathered up his life savings and went through the process to purchase that land, thus claiming the buried treasure as his own!
"Lucky, dog," Luke sighed, shaking his head and laughing. "You know, he was due though. He's had a tough run lately. I'm glad for him to get this stroke."
"Me too. I agree...", I started.
"Hey, would you look at that!", Luke interrupted. Our sandals stopped in their sandy tracks as we stood agape at the sight in front of us. A huge clam was sitting high and dry in the sand! It must have been ten feet across! We'd never seen anything like it! We cautiously approached it and let our hands touch its rough, calloused shell to help our minds believe what we were really seeing. Circling the giant clam, we were in awe of its size. It had a depth of some four feet tall! Before any of us could speak, Tommy held up his hand to hush us, as if he heard something peculiar. He turned his ear to the clam to make sure, then we all heard it at the same time.
"Help! Help me!", came the faint cries from within the clam shell.
"There's somebody in there!?!", Tommy shouted, but as if asking a question. What? Why? How? "Quick, grab some drift wood here and pry it open!" We all went to work prying and tugging until finally, the clam relented and was opened. Our wooden poles dropped to the ground just as our jaws dropped in amazement. There before us, in the tongue of this giant clam, sat the most grand, perfectly polished, and just flat-out huge--pearl! It looked like a giant, shiny, three foot diameter ball! If its size wasn't impressive enough, just the thought of its value was enough to boggle our brains. It was surely the most valuable thing we'd ever laid eyes upon.
"Help!", came the cry again, this time a bit more distinct.
Tommy boldly climbed into the clam's shell to get closer to the pearl. He could barely get both arms around its girth in his attempt to move it from its slimy nest. As he struggled to dislodge it, the pearl seemed to roll in his arms and come alive! Well, this scared the living daylights out of Tommy, causing him to jump back in fear. But his sandals had become stuck in the slime, so his feet stayed put as his body fell backwards! His arms spun like windmills to regain his balance, but he had already gone beyond the tipping point. He landed with a squishy splat right onto the clam's tongue or meat or whatever that muscle thingy is that clams have.
The pearl emitted a sharp snap and then a crack as it burst open to reveal none other than John! "Ta-da!", John shouted out, raising his hands up in the air. "Surprise!", he followed, laughing at our shocked faces and, stepping out of the clam shell, he helped Tommy back onto his feet. "How did you...?", Tommy began, but was interrupted by splashing and heavy footsteps of something coming out of the water right next to us! It was Whitey! Wow! Man, my nerves were shot from all of these surprises. The 'white dot' we had seen in the water was actually Whitey swimming to shore this whole time. We had forgotten about the strange white dot when we were distracted by the giant clam and pearl. Whitey came out of the water and slung off the salty froth with a shake that started at his head and ended with his tail shaking in the finale. Then, he proceeded to roll about in the dark sand, first one way to cover his left side, then the other way to get the other side sufficiently covered. There was something satisfying about a good romp and roll in the sand. It felt good to his smooth, white hide after a long swim, and it seemed fitting on such a fine, muscled, war horse. He certainly was enjoying some time without a saddle on.
"So...", I scratched my head, trying to make sense of everything. I sure could use some coffee to help clear things up maybe. "Let's see, we were headed to John's house, then the clam, the pearl, then Whitey, but then...where's JC in all of this?", I tried to reason.
"I am," came the familiar voice of my old friend JC. As He spoke, the clam moved his mouth, and then magically transformed its shell into the shape of a human!
"JC!", we all exclaimed in unison. "Wow, how did you...where was...when did...", we all seemed to burst out our questions simultaneously.
"Boys, it sure is good to see you again," JC chuckled. "I'm sorry to startle you guys in this way, but I wanted to really get your attention. You see, I've been working on some things behind the scenes, bringing you to this point. John, here, was a good sport to play along with my plan, but it started well before that with Tommy finding that buried treasure and then giving all he had to purchase that land. Whitey swimming across the ocean was another part of demonstrating giving the utmost effort. And the pearl story, well, it's one of my favorites of all time. You see, it all starts with a grain of sand inside a clam. The grain of sand is actually a problem that irritates the clam. It would be like something in your eye that really bothers you. The clam sends some of its own juices to envelop the grain of sand in its defense. It covers and insulates the grain of sand with this protection, and in a repetitive process, it hardens and polishes it into one of the most valuable gems known to man-the pearl. The sad note to this process is that it costs the clam dearly. It hurts and damages the clam, even unto death. And, further, it is only upon death, that man can open the powerful jaws of the clam. The clam gives his life for the very irritant that it turned into a valuable pearl. Well, you guys are that pearl. That's why I had John hide inside. It's you that I gave it all for-the most valuable thing on the planet. I gave my best. This is the example I wanted to share with you this morning. I love you guys."
"Me-e-e-e-e-e-e t-o-o-o-o!!!!!!", echoed good ol' Whitey. Funny, we'd gotten used to a talking horse, for when it comes to JC, anything is possible.
"You hear that?," I pointed at John. "You're an 'irritant'!", I jabbed. Everybody laughed and relaxed. "Where's the coffee?"
