The Stone Pillow
by Marcia N. Lynch
Genesis 28
I was just lying on the ground like I do all day, every day. The sun was beginning to set over the dusty ground when a man walked slowly towards me. I could tell he had been traveling, for although he was a young man, his movements were slow and he dragged his feet in the dust. He stopped by me to set up camp for the night, and I heard him and his companions talking about their journey. This man was going to Haran to find a wife! Oh, so this was a romantic journey! I listened carefully for any details, and I heard something about his mother and father wanting him to marry from his mother’s family.
“What a good son,” I thought. “Obeying the wishes of his mother and father.” I strained to hear more, but the next thing I knew this man had picked me up, and put me down again, and turned me around a bit. Then he stretched out by the fire, and put his head on top of me! This bachelor had chosen me for a pillow! Well, I must admit, I don’t make a very good pillow, but I tried to think soft thoughts and stay still so he could have a good night’s sleep after a long trip. It must have worked because he went right to sleep.
Then his head moved, and he twitched. I could tell he was dreaming. But not just any dream. This was a dream from God. In his dream, he saw a stairway, kind of like a ladder, resting right behind me on the earth. And this ladder stretched all the way into the heavens. It made me dizzy!
Now, let me tell you something. Stones don’t look up very often. We are very attached to the earth, and we can’t move by ourselves. Our meteorite brothers see the heavens, but I am a desert stone, and I have never seen anything like what I saw that night. There, with this man’s head resting on me, I saw the heavens spilling out angels who went effortlessly up and down this endless stairway! What a glorious sight! These beautiful, celestial beings from my Creator’s throne in the heavenlies!
Then, HE spoke—the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac! He showered my human bedmate with wonderful promises. I’ll tell you what he said, but I am a mere stone, and I cannot describe His loving and majestic voice, but here are the words He spoke:
“I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. (Hear that! He means right here by me, little pillow-stone me!) Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. (I know that’s true; he has always watched over me!) And I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
I lay there, glowing warm all over even though the fire had gone out hours ago. My God had spoken to this man and told him the Great Promise to His people. What a dream! What a night!
Then the man woke up. He was clearly shaken and frightened, and said out loud, “Surely the LORD was in this place and I was not aware of it. This place is awesome! This is the house of God! This is the gate of Heaven!”
I was so excited for the man that I could have done a little rock and roll right there in the desert! God told him in the Promise Dream that his descendants would be like the dust of the earth (I live in the dust every day. I like that thought). That meant his journey to Haran would be successful! He would find a wife and have a family. I was so happy for him, I wanted to tag along and see his bride and watch his children grow up. But before I knew it, the man—named Jacob—picked me up again. He looked right at me. He probably just saw a plain stone, but I was looking at a man with a bright new future. He then set me on top of a pile of stones, and I felt this cool, slippery oil poured all over me. That felt good! He then gave me a name! He called me “Beth-el” which means “House of God.” I felt humble and proud, all at the same time.
Jacob and his companions went on their way to meet his bride. But I stayed behind. My place was here. With my glistening face shining in the morning sun, I was a stone with a name! “House of God.”
Jacob will come back here. I know it because it was in God’s Promise Dream. I will stay and mark this spot forever, and at night I will dream of the soft rustle of angels brushing past me to touch the earth.
About the Poet
Marcia N. Lynch’s experience as a storyteller comes from working as a children’s film editor and from having been written into the story of Christ’s redemption. She studied sculpture at Mount Holyoke College. Sculpting, like film editing, requires an artist to cut out anything that does not relate to the primary subject matter, and these two disciplines have honed her storytelling skills. Marcia lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband of 38 years and has three grown children. She surrendered to Christ in 1975.
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Image: Biblical illustration of Book of Genesis Chapter 28, CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed, via Wikimedia Commons.
