Stones of Remembrance

My friend "D" and I had coffee again this morning. One of the things we talked about was stones of remembrance. I had forgotten the story in Joshua 4:1-9.

"When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.

Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day."

The purpose of the stones was for our benefit, not for God's. It was to remind us that He works among us. Regardless of whether or not we see progress, He is still be at work in the lives of His people.

In a way, this blog is my stone of remembrance. I think we can all find, or create, our own. In those times when it seems that God has abandoned us, or that we have abandoned Him, our stones of remembrance can remind us that His work in our lives, His love for us, is not dependent on our work. This runs contrary to the pietistic influence of my background. And there are some verses which can be quoted to indicate that God will not act if we do not act. But I think His love is not constrained by my choices. And I also think that I may be praying to Him or seeking Him even when I am not consciously doing so. The very fact that I am anxious or restless about my spiritual state is evidence of life within my soul. The embers are active even if I no longer feel their warmth. But God sees them. And His Spirit gently blows on them to rekindle the flame.

Even in the small steps I have taken in beginning this blog and in praying, I feel something is different.

As I shared my anxiety with my friend about this blog, he pointed out how brutally honest the Bible is about the patriarchs and so many others. Jakob for instance, was a pretty dishonest guy. He had a lot of flaws. But that way God is the Hero of the story, not us. And it gives us the freedom to be real. It allows me to say, "this is who I am." knowing that as imperfect as I may be, God is the Hero in my story too. I don't need to dwell on my flaws, but neither do I need to deny them.