Talking Stones

Luke 19: 36-40 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,  “Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”

He answered, “I tell you, if these people were silent, the stones would shout out!” 

I've been preparing a series of prayer stations for Holy Week, and advertising that the prayer stations are for all ages, so a family could could come and enjoy it together. When our Children's Ministry Director asked me if the kids could use it for Sunday school, I had to get a bit more intentional. I realized how some of the language I was using for the stations would still need to be explained by an adult. So I restructured the description of the labyrinth and added two new stations which would be more accessible for use specifically with the kids. Now when I read the directions, however, I get excited about the adults doing the same stations. 

Perhaps this is why I love prayer stations in the first place. We are invited to be creative and use our imagination and we touch interesting surfaces, holding meaning-full objects in our hands. We come to Jesus as a child and yet we use multiple parts of our brain. For me, it makes the scripture real when I can experience it like this.

I now have a very new way of describing a labyrinth. I'll give credit to my friend Jamie who compared it to a map with roads when she was explaining it to her three year old daughter.  What a visual reminder that when we are searching for God, and find Jesus, we look back and see that the Spirit was leading us every step of the way. 

May you come as a child to Holy Week and notice the "talking stones" reminding you where you have been, reminding you who God is, and reminding you of your identity as a child of God.