Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
— Luke 21.5-6
What do you carve your name in?
He was right about the stones,
how they all came down,
how the temple joined a great line of ruins,
how every stone comes home to Ground Zero,
is dust, and returns to dust,
about your life, carved in stone.
What do you stand on?
Where the temple once was, stones remain,
a wall where the faithful come to pray.
They fold up little papers with prayers
and stick them between the stones,
moving their lips and murmuring.
What do you hold onto?
What we think of as stones
are just brief gatherings of sand.
Long after earth is gone,
the little scraps of paper will remain.
Long after God has forgotten the stones,
God will remember the prayers,
moving his lips and murmuring.
What do you believe in?
Heaven and hell are made of stone.
All that lasts is this living moment,
and whatever love is in it.
Let the stones vanish.
Come and meet God here,
now.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net