Stones

Among our ancient ancestors, it was common to erect stones circles, cairns, pillers in remembrance of some important event, a sacred place, or a lost loved one. Now such stones are lost in the mist of time or puzzled over by curious scientists and scholars as they strive to decipher their meaning.

My entire life I've been fascinated by these signs from the past. What did they mean? Who raised them up and what significance did they hold for those long ago humans? Did they mark the passing of a leader or loved one? Where they raised in worship? Or did they mark a neutral place where warring tribes could gather in peace?

What compelled them to spend so much effort and time on gathering stones and transporting them, sometimes from distant places to their particular final resting place? Why this place rather than another?

We still raise our monuments to achievement, memorials, worship. I sometime ponder what our descendents will make of our "stones". Will they understand why we found our particular events important? Or will they, too, wonder at the time we spent building them? 

It's possible that our stones, like those from the past, will merely be enigmatic puzzles that occupy the curious as they search for the meaning and significance of our efforts. In the end, this too shall pass.

anny