Edifices Of Stone

Today I ventured into two cemeteries that were local to me. Of late I have found such a fascination and beauty in the old carved stones and statuary there. I especially love the carved angels that can be found in the older sections. The artists’ handiwork during the 1800’s was just breath taking. Today stones are laser cut and worked a small bit by hand but the older carvings that grace the rolling hillsides of the historic sections are unmatched. 

As I drove through the winding lanes it was very somber to say the least but as I continued down lane after lane I found myself compelled to take photos of the beauty of the art there. These carvings were very sizeable as well. Oh, some were two foot high but most were towering over their place and stood at least 10 feet high and more. 

It was very thought provoking to imagine a 10 foot statue being commissioned and placed to mark where someones life was laid to rest. Beautiful memorials carved out of timeless stone to mark that life and stand watch through the years over them. 

As I slowly drove on through the memorials I began to imagine what it would look like on the day Jesus returned. As quiet and sobering a place as it was today, the pictures that played in my mind of that day were a bit unsettling. 

”For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

I imagined that very moment, if I was a witness to it, to be amazing and awesome unlike anything I've  ever imagined or Hollywood has tried to portray. The dead that are in Christ will come up out of their graves and be changed.  Can you even imagine standing there to be a witness to that? Well, not for long right! Because it would just be a blink and I'd be right behind them. 

Think of it though, their spirits would meet with their new bodies and they'd be raised to perfection and glory. That moment would be one of profound worship standing there on Holy Ground. That gloomy, sad and somber place would suddenly become a glorious piece of Holy Ground where one of Gods greatest miracles will unfold. From those quiet rolling hills will come resurrected, glorified and well memorialized believers I might add, that will be snatched up and taken to their glorious reward in heaven. It was as if the edifices of stone we're poised, waiting and whispering, ”soon, soon our watch will be over”. 

The beauty of the statues, the beauty of that moment in time, the beauty of His great love for us is unmatched. 

If you get the chance, go, go stroll through those hallowed places and admire the handiwork of the carvers and makers but particularly, if you don't do anything else, make sure you'll be a heaven bound traveller when the clouds roll back and King Jesus calls us home. The beauty of that trip will far surpass a trip down the angel guarded lanes of the Memorial Gardens you can be sure of that!