An Inkling
When I was in sixth grade I did a social studies project on Stonehenge. I researched Stonehenge’s history and construction, and wrote a report. I painted a 3x3 piece of plywood green, and made little gray clay blocks, which I mounted on the board in a scaled down Stonehenge pattern. As an eleven year old, I was fascinated that these ancients could figure the sun’s course and move gigantic stones (sans bulldozers!) scores of miles in order to celebrate, worship, calculate, ______ – you fill in the blank – we’re still not sure exactly what they were doing. I was amazed to read that in the forty plus years since my report, not many of the Stonehenge knowledge gaps have been filled in.A couple of days ago I was reminded of my youthful Stonehenge enthrallment with news of celebrants gathering at Stonehenge for the summer solstice – pagans, new-agers, and lots of curious people. Happily for them they got a good clear sunrise, and sure enough, it rose right over the “Heel Stone,” the one the ancients set in place to mark the sun’s most northward course. Cheers, horn blasts, and dancing greeted the sun. Many expressed delight in reconnecting with their ancient Briton roots. Stonehenge continues to fascinate.
And I’m fascinated at yet one more picture of how the human spirit yearns to find meaning. G.K. Chesterton gave that yearning a wry description a century ago: When a man stops believing in God, he doesn’t then believe in nothing, he believes in anything. Rather than tut-tutting that people would believe anything, let’s major in clarifying why we believe God created the heavens and the earth. Then we can let the contrast speak for itself: a celebration of stones erected to recognize the course of the sun, or a celebration of the One who set the sun in its course. Many of those whose yearning has led them to believe anything will recognize how lame anything is compared to the one living God.
It’s one facet of living and telling the good news. We major in how that one God has redeemed us in Jesus Christ. But let’s not leave out how the One who redeemed also created this amazing world. May he be praised – especially at summer solstice!
All day long,
Keith
