stones and letters

I remember an Adult Sunday School lesson one time about standing stones, those markers the ancient Israelites erected as memorials. The idea was that future visitors would ask, “What do these stones represent?” Our teacher reminded us that we Christians are standing stones that mark God’s good work in our lives and this world.

Paul used a different metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3: “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Standing stones, letters from Christ, they seem to mean the same thing: we should stand for something in this world. It makes me wonder what people see when they look at me. Do I make them think of the goodness of God, or am I a memorial to the American Dream?

I want to be a letter written on human hearts with the Spirit of the Living God. I think that might require some changes.