Rock Quarries

When my kids were in the third grade they made the annual third grade field trip to the rock quarry in Sandusky, Ohio.  Full of excitement and chattering away about the rocks they found and brought home, they had to show me each and every fossil in each and every rock.  "Look mom, here's a leaf!"  "Mom, see this insect right here?  I wonder how old it is!"  

"Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord.  Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.  Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.  For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song."  Isaiah 51: 1-3

Whenever life changes it has a way of putting us off balance. . . even if it's a change we anticipated or even longed for. . . it can be a bit overwhelming at times even when we're happy about it.  How much more difficult is it for us when a change occurs that we did not desire?  When it seems like the proverbial rug is ripped out from underneath us?  We may end up on our backside wondering what happened to bring us so violently to the ground!  

God has a word for us that draws us back to what we know, to our most basic grounding and foundation.  "Look to the rock from which you were hewn. . ."  Where did you come from?  Who are your ancestors?  Who are your faith mothers and fathers?  What have they taught you that you can draw upon in this moment? 

Looking back to where we came from grounds us in a deeper reality than the change that is all around us!  Who are those old fossils who have formed and shaped you into the person you are today?  They might be ancestors that you never even met, but still they have something to give you (for instance a couple of years ago we found out that we have in our ancestry "the oldest Presbyterian minister in the eastern US," the Rev. Dr. Lyman Whiting.  I have since read much of his history and many of his sermons.  Who knew?).  What can their witness offer you in the midst of struggle?  How did they make it through the trials they had to deal with?  We draw strength from their story. . . we can be encouraged by their faith, tenacity and journey.  They knew that God was with them. . . they lived in hope and trust of the One God who promised, "My salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended." (v.6)

See, fossils are good for something more than paperweights!  

Image credit: superteachertools.com