Part 3: Memorial Stones
After succeeding Moses, Joshua had the task of leading the Israelites across the Jordan River. God separated the waters. Everyone walked across on a dry riverbed. One man from each of the twelve tribes was instructed to select a boulder from the middle of the riverbed. They were to place them in a heap.
God told Joshua they would be memorial stones. In years to come, their descendants would see the pile of stones and ask, “What do these stones mean to you?” He continued, “Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever” (Joshua 4:7, NKJV).
A Book of Visual Reminders
Stories repeated from generation to generation keep legacies alive. Visible, tangible reminders are better. Throughout the Bible, God jogged the memories of His followers with reminders of His grace that they experienced with their senses. The Passover meal became a Jewish memorial they could see, touch, and taste (Exodus 12:14). Jesus instituted Communion in the same way (I Corinthians 11:26). We perpetuate the idea of visual, tactile realities of the past.
Faith on Display
Our largest application of that idea is museums. In small towns, residents recall local history through donated memorabilia. They include hundreds of once-popular, everyday items.
As Christians, we keep our spiritual histories alive with objects that tell stories of our faith. Sometimes, we preserve them by tucking them away in totes. Sometimes, we display objects on shelves or walls.
A few years ago, I celebrated a spiritual legacy by placing a pair of wire-framed glasses on an old Bible and setting them on a shelf.
The year I turned 14, my grandmother (my mother’s mother) gave me the small Bible. It’s wrapped in army green tape (original 1940s Duct Tape). Inside, the Bible has no table of contents, maps, nor concordance. No sentences are in red. It was given to her in 1948. She gave it me three decades later to encourage my faith after I sensed God’s call to preach.
That Bible that she’d kept all of those years reminded me of God’s multi-generational grace. When she gave it to me, her prayers and Christian example had already bolstered my faith. The unattractive gift displayed on the shelf served as a visual piece of my spiritual legacy.
It reminded me of Paul’s words to young Timothy. He told him in II Timothy 1:5 (NLT), “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.”
Some Memorial Stones Disappear
Churches are lasting landmarks of some of our legacy stories. Years ago, my wife and I wanted to show our children the church (in another state) where we were married. To us, that solid structure on a specific street would always be where we pledged vows to each other in front of God and human witnesses. To our surprise, when we turned onto that block, ready to point out the church to our children, it was gone. The church had been torn down.
But some stones of remembrance can be bricks. The church no longer stood, but we found another tangible connection with our wedding day. Someone contacted me when the hospital where I was born was being demolished. They saved me a brick. What a gift! I proposed to my wife on the steps of that hospital. The church is gone. The hospital is gone. The brick remains. Today, it sits on a shelf to remind us how God brought us together.
The Road Ahead:
- You might pursue a paper trail of documents and clippings for genealogy purposes. What about physical objects to remind you of ways God has worked in your family? Has a family member brought an object back from a short-term missions trip? What about the stories behind a well-worn, well-marked Bible? What other mementos commemorating the spiritual principles of a family member’s life are worth keeping and exhibiting?
- For spiritual-legacy objects no longer available, you can keep a family journal of the stories they would represent. Retold stories can grow faith in each next generation. Use every item and story as a token of God’s faithfulness to your family.
Further Fuel: Psalm 16:6; II Peter 1:12.
Mile Markers 