
Tower of Stones
Traveling, when we were still able to, we would notice these curious stacked stone towers whenever our visits took us near oceans, rivers, or mountains with their beautiful vistas.
I’ve wondered, what are people trying to say when they stack those stones?
Are they saying, ” I was here, too”, or “I want to be connected to those who came before, and those who will come after me by adding a stone”?
This simple act of piling one rock on another, is it a desire for a connection in a world where we are becoming more and more isolated on our devices? Or maybe an attempt to be a part of a growing, changing work of art, one soul and one stone at a time?
I was thinking about the past symbolic use of stones.
The biblical account of Joshua leading his people through the Jordan River. God stopped the flow so they could pass through safely away from their enemies. God then commanded each of the 12 tribes to take a stone from the middle of the river and carry it with them to the banks to be built into an altar, stones of remembrance, for what the Lord had done that day.
Another account in scripture tells of God saving His people from their enemy, the Philistine army. Samuel sets up a stone in the exact spot where God brought them victory. He called it Ebenezer, “the stone of help.”
I thought about the life of Oskar Schindler, and how after his death, Jewish people visiting his grave, would leave a stone of gratefulness, to remember how he had been instrumental in saving countless numbers of their people from the gas chambers of WW11. It has become a custom, instead of flowers to leave a stone on a loved ones’ memorial, even to this day.
I think of Jesus, He is known as the Living Stone. For me, He is my stone of salvation.
Stones can really make you think, can’t they?
The next time you travel, when you spot one of these interesting sculptures, you too may find yourself pondering the meaning of those beautiful and arresting towers of stones.