Glad And Sorry
One night in ancient times, three horsemen were riding across a desert land. As they crossed the dry bed of a river, out of the darkness a voice called, "Halt"!
They obeyed swiftly. The voice then told them to dismount, pick up a handful of pebbles, place them in their pockets, and remount.
The voice then said, "You have done as I commanded. Tomorrow at sun-up you will be both glad and sorry." Mystified as to what this meant, the horsemen rode on. When the sun arose, they reached into their pockets and discovered a miracle had happened. The pebbles had transformed into diamonds, into rubies, and into other precious stones. They recalled the warning. They were both glad and sorry — glad they had taken some, and sorry they had not taken more.
Thus will it be at the day appointed by the Creator for His creatures to appear before Him. When the good deeds of life are recounted and redeemed in heaven's gold, with an extra measure for each several act; when the cups of kindness are filled from the streams of emerald and made to overflow with effervescent abundance; when meditations upon the divine writings are rewarded with gems of jacinth, with a premium for each glorious thought; when the times of worship with the church of God are exchanged for pearls of fluorescent white and the recipients are clothed in robes of sparkling chalcedony and ushered into the sardius chapel to offer up praises for evermore; when the acts of faith are valued in terms of jasper and scintillate with ultimate trust; when strands of love are gilded in jewels of amethyst and strengthened for the eons of eternity; when earnest, fervent prayers are traded for the sapphires of righteousness and rewarded again in measures of double indemnity; when buds of hope are made to blossom into the topaz of reality and transmuted into perpetual bloom; when songs of praise are resounded again and recorded upon discs of beryl for the heavenly repertoire, to encore before the King of glory in angelic fervor and sweetness.
Thus will man be both glad and sorry — glad that he took what he did, and sorry he did not gather more!