During our Water Communion service last Sunday, our ingathering service for the new church year, Robert Hancock brought in this large beautiful beach stone instead of a bottle of water to add to the communal bowl. I thought that this was a wonderful symbol of how earth and water relate to each other in the vastness of the oceans. And how the beauty of beach stones is usually enhanced by being wet. It's as if the stones are living things and their natural environment is the sea. They were meant to be submerged or lying on moist sand to show their true beauty. So it somehow seemed to fit right in when Robert placed his stone in the bowl.
This week, I have thought of the importance of stones in my life and all they can symbolize. Like Robert, I have gathered beach stones. I've done this ever since I was a child... as you may have, too... along with seashells. And have, in my collection, some unusually shaped and colored stones. I find it quite comforting to see these stones... sitting on a window sill in my kitchen, or the window ledge on my back porch... or to hold one in my hand. I love to group them in different ways or have other people play with them as well. As Edward Hays told us, I "take delight in the abundance of the simple things in life which are the true source of joy." But beyond delight, this week I fell into a reverie of what meaning stones held for me.
From the earliest times, stones are one way people to connect to the Earth, to Mother Earth. We know the shaping of stones ... whether smooth or rough... plain or colorful... is the result of ancient and primeval forces of nature... volcanoes and earthquakes, glacial flows, and the movement of oceans, or just sedimentation and the slow pressure of eons. Stones speak to me of the interdependent web of nature... and of the mysterious Creator, ultimately unknown and unknowable source of all creation. So to hold a stone is to hold the result of thousands or millions of years of creation.
I thought something more about stones and gathering them together. This summer, I went to a retreat at Stonehill College run by Thich Nhat Hanh, that great Buddhist teacher and author, and his organization. For the hundreds of us there, it was 5 days of silent mindful meditation both sitting and walking, dharma talks (i.e. lectures on the principles of Buddhism) and the beautiful chanting of Buddhist monks and nuns. The weather was intolerably hot and humid, but the monks and nuns in their ankle-length brown robes smiled most pleasantly and answered our questions with cheerful calmness. The participants spent much time walking around the lovely Stonehill campus, over footpaths through the woods, along ponds and over bridges.
To our delight the monks and nuns had an unusual skill. This was to create little statues out of rough stones, balanced most delicately one on top of the other. The stone statues looked like little people, one walking behind the other along stone walls or sitting atop boulders. On one large boulder, someone had created a little scene, with a structure that looked like a building surrounded by these little rock people. One larger rock person, obviously a woman, seemed to lead them. Maybe she was a mother or a goddess or a priestess.
And whoever these artists were, they created their art when no one was looking. Then they or other people (maybe the children who were with us in a children's program) would decorate them with a flower or a feather or a tiny origami paper bird. It was all quite mystical and charming... even humorous. What was even more charming was that each day someone might add or subtract a decoration, not disturbing the original rock designs. I thought this week of how gentle these little stone people seemed, so balanced and serene... just like the gentle artists who created them. How ironic when stone could be used for such destructive purposes. So to me these stone people represented a centered-ness and balance. I think meditating on these little figures, so close to nature and yet so obviously creations of human beings, is a lesson in itself. Just think artistry and creativity. Think balance and serenity.
Yet stones are more than things to be studied or admired. They have been used by humanity for millennia... literally from the time of the Stone Age... for many useful, practical purposes.
Most of you have heard the passage in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible which begins: "For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven, A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted." This passage is often read at funerals. It's responsive reading #558 in our hymnal... And it's an appropriate passage this time of the Autumn equinox and fall harvest. This piece of wisdom literature focuses our attention on the cycles of nature and of time.
There is a line in Ecclesiastes which particularly resonated with me this week, ever since Robert brought in his beach stone. "A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together." Can this be a season to gather stones together? What could this mean to me? And to us as a congregation?
According to Rabbi Jonathan Kraus of the Beth El Temple Center in Belmont, the original meaning of this passage is about rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem in the late 6th century before the Common Era. The Temple was first destroyed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian around 587 BCE, when, in the imagery of this passage, its building stones were "scattered." But the Jews were allowed to return to their land a generation later under a more benevolent Persian emperor. This is a message of hope for renewal in a troubling and difficult world.
Like the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, this congregation is showing wonderful signs in this new church season of renewed growth in a troubling and difficult world. One sign is the increased number of children in the Sunday school. This may be a bit of a challenge, but also a great opportunity. The congregation offers all of us, children, teens and adults, a sanctuary, a place of stability and safety in world that often seems crazy and dangerous. The stone walls of the church stand as symbols of strength and protection.
Within these stone walls there is the chance for each of us to find acceptance, to experience spirituality and moments of transcendence, to grow in wisdom, understanding and joy. Within these stone walls our children are nurtured in their journeys and helped to grow into open-minded, thinking and compassionate adults. Within these walls is the chance for all of us to help each other in times of need, to celebrate with each other in times of joy and to work together for common goals. So let us continue to gather our stones together for the continued renewal of our church.
As we see, stones are more than mere stones. They can be symbols for many things.
Stones may be sacred objects...
although I'd warn against the worship of stone idols.
Stone can be material for art, even if the artist is nature itself.
They can stand in balance or imbalance.
They can represent both stability and the transforming forces of nature.
Stone walls speak of shelter and security.
Stone bridges end separation and solitude.
Stones gathered together may stand for a community of hope and for peace.
In contemplating stones, may we all find pleasure and deeper meaning in the abundance of nature and in the simpler things. Amen and blessed be.