LIVING STONES REJECTED BY MAN AND LOVED BY GOD
The Contest
The night I was waiting for had arrived.
The girls and I assembled and were loaded into a van.
We were excited.
We were in isolation, separated from society.
Most of us were orphaned girls
Abandoned.
The schools around us had an annual public speaking contest
We had never entered it before
This year we had one girl who entered
I was that girl.
There were three of us finalists
Two other girls and I stood before a young man at the back of the hall
A young man held out a basket containing several slips of paper
"Take three." he said
On each slip of paper was a title of a speech.
We could chose one.
I looked at the titles and I did not hesitate
"The House of Tomorrow" was the title
I felt excitement rising stirring within me.
With the paper in my hand I walked to the platform on legs that were rubbery.
I had removed my glasses deliberately, to reduce the audience to a foggy blur.
Some greater power had given me a voice.
It seemed I had been waiting for that moment.
Was this my time?
My young shoulders felt a great weight
I was fourteen years old, a slip of a girl
I could not let my fellow orphans down.
Every nerve in my body seemed to be trembling
My veins were on fire
Butterflies in my stomach
My mouth was dry
I knew my face was red
My voice sounded strong in a way I did not feel
The highlights of the speech remain in my memory
"My house of Tomorrow will be built by God.
A family will live in that house with a Mom and Dad
With two children, a boy and a girl
They will never have to say goodbye
There will be no tears and there will be no hurting there
People will see each other, and they will listen
Books and music will fill the house
No one will be hungry or cold
There will be no crying or hitting
No will have to hide in that house
Because love will fill the house."
The brief speech took on its own power.
A young girl's passionate protest.
The protest of a child
The invisible became visible
The invisible was speaking!
When my voice stopped, the room became silent.
The silence seemed loud
Everyone remained a blur before me
I felt empty and shaken
There was a soft rippling of applause
A rustling of noise
People rose to their feet
The applause grew in volume
I was pushed back with that volume
I heard my girls yell out in cheers
Now I was crying in relief and joy
Our school won the medal. and we were mentioned in the local newspaper
For many years I kept that article
I had learned something vital to me.
There was a world outside of mine
And in that world I would find a way. /excerpt from the book Outside The Gate /j.smith
The Temple
What was once Araunah's rough threshing floor had been transformed to a glorious Temple Mount, complete with the Temple glistening in the early sunshine, magnificent courtyards, ornate walls, myriads of priests in their special garb, and countless Levites scurrying to get everything ready.
Children gape at the 120,000 sheep and 22,000 bulls that will sacrificed that day. (1 Kings 8:63).
There are huge white boulders forming the temple walls.
Is there a new temple?
A new house of God?
Our we the living stones he has chosen for a new temple?
I have more questions than answers
I am just the storyteller
Coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by man, but chosen by God and precious, you are also the living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (Peter 2: 3-4)
By the Word of His mouth
We are made one holy house
Though we live as scattered strangers
We are not homeless, we are free
We are one family and one-fold
An Overseer of our souls
We are His own possession
We are living stones /Michael Card from the album A Fragile Stone