Wednesday, March 4
Read 2 Samuel 22:32-43
For who is God but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? (v 32)
RANDOM ROCKS
In both symbolism and reality, evil and good, rocks have played a significant role in salvation history:
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When Moses struck the rock in the desert, water gushed forth, giving thirst-quenching sustenance to the grousing Israelites;
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On the morning of the Resurrection, the huge boulder of Jesus’ grave had been rolled back, causing fear and wonder in his disciples;
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St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was murdered by stoning;
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And Jesus pronounced Peter, the bumbling apostle, the rock and the foundation of his new church.
When I was very young (about a century ago), my parents bought a cabin, a slip dock and a motorized fishing boat at Fall River Lake. I have so many treasured memories of those days swimming, hiking, fishing and water skiing with my nine siblings.
One of the very few inert pastimes we enjoyed was lying on huge, sun-warmed slabs of yellow sandstone beneath a cliff. Some of these rocks were millions of years old. We could see the sediment strata that had formed sections of the cliff and broken into cross-sectioned layers aided by the erosive ebb and flow of the lake.
Of course, being kids, we were mostly interested in napping away our frenzied lives on these behemoth stones until we were as red as boiled lobsters. We plunged into the cold muddy water and then went back for more solar punishment.
Thinking back on the days spent on those venerable rocks, I am reminded of St. Augustine’s declaration of our Creator as “… so ancient and so new.” Like the stability and warmth of those huge stones, God’s abiding love is always there to hold us. In good times and bad, that constant awareness will always shine like the bright beams of the sun, giving light, warmth and direction to life. God indeed is our rock!
Joanne Ehrlich
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