“But who are these, Lady, that are white and round, and yet, do not fit into the building of the tower?”
She answered and said, “How long will you be foolish and stupid, and continue to put every kind of question and understand nothing. These are those who have faith indeed, but they have also the riches of this world. When, therefore, tribulation comes, on account of their riches and business they deny the Lord.”
I answered and said to her, “When, then, will they be useful for the building, Lady?”
“When the riches that now seduce them have been circumscribed, then will they be of use to God. For as a round stone cannot become square unless portions be cut off and cast away, so also those who are rich in this world cannot be useful to the Lord unless their riches be cut down. Learn this first from your own case. When you were rich, you were useless; but now you are useful and fit for life. Be ye useful to God; for you also will be used as one of these stones.”
Shepherd of Hermas in Visions in The Apostolic Fathers (Chicago: Moody, 2009) 178-179.