What's so Good About a Rock Anyway...

I always felt bad for the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. Maybe you know the song? We would happily sing and sign along with the catchy children's song in Sunday School..."The foolish man built his house upon the sand....and it all came tumbling down..." Next came the wise man who build his house upon a rock and it stood firm in the storm so unlike the foolish man's house.

As a person who loves geology I can appreciate the value of sand vs. rock dwelling construction. I also am aware the sand will someday become solid rock, at least it has the potential...and solid rock had to crumble in order to make sand. What was simple to sing as a child is much more complicated now. Is the complication a symptom too much information and too little trust? What's so good about a rock anyway...

As a kid I used to think that rocks were indestructible. They were sturdy, strong, heavy, not for throwing, and immovable since really big ones were left where they were....like the one in front of our church that the city built the street around. Then one day I threw one rock at another rock and I couldn't believe my eyes when the one I threw chipped! For a moment I was afraid of my own strength...then in the next I was puzzled by the weakness of the rock. Metaphors only go so far, this is true. Yet, what is important about the metaphor that led the artist to choose it? Rock imagery is prolific in the Bible. God is a rock...the church is built on a rock...rocks, rocks, rocks. What's so good about a rock anyway...

I toss out a question....with a timid beginning of an answer...I am not a rock, that is a characteristic God claims. I do not make rocks, but I can feel the difference between rock and sand when I hold them in my hand. I can learn which rocks don't crumble or chip when I experiment and fumble about. So I wonder, can I take this God who is like a rock out in the storm...toss it about...and see what comes? The song says the rock is firm and trustworthy...if I build my house there it will be safe and secure...and so I unabashedly inquire - God, are you a rock? If so, what's so good about a rock anyway?