The White Stone

There You stand, majestic and mercy-minded,

in the ferocious white radiance of Your judgment hall.

Eyes of the Lion, fierce, yet love-gentled,

beckon me;
I proceed until the peace of Your
fearsome
proximity
washes over me in hushed powerful rivers of wind.

I hold out my hand in response to Your thought~

~In my palm You place an oval white stone,

opaline, yet priceless in its stability.

I gaze upon it in wonder,

as it begins to carve upon itself,

in eloquent soft fire, the noble new name

You had promised me long ago.

The jewel offers me its perpetual memorial

of light.

My heart beats triumphantly

for the many trials and struggles

that have won this name for me, humbly~

~for without Your constant aid

I would still have failed.

You close your strong, graceful,

scarred hands slowly around mine~

~the stone pulsing with a living warmth.

You look deeply into me~

my heart, my entire life~

~and in Your sonorous, joy-ringing voice

You say, "Well done."

Your smile wraps around me

in a king-brotherly embrace.

As this vision of hope solidifies

within me,

I advance towards You,

tension-fighting with yes and no.

"I know", Your eyes say~"Come."

Presently, You place a hot, rough stone

in my hand~
a huge raw garnet that glows

carmine and heavy~
like Your blood.

And the stone says,

with Your blissful-sad-lovely voice,

"I forgive you. Do not give up."

*******

Karen Gladys Henry ©2004
*******

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." Revelation 2:17