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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Up and Down (04/02/09)
Mortar I did not scrape off from the day before is eating at my leather shoes. I can be such a messy worker. My hands are dried and cracking from handling it. The quarry is full of choice stones to select from. My back aches when I work, because of the years it has bent low and risen high, over and again. I love to pile stone upon stone, but it would mean nothing without the mortar to hold it together. This is why my trowel is at my right hand. Mortar and trowel, brick and plumb, these are the elements of my homestead.

I began by digging. I dug deep. I dug long and wide. I then poured a great foundation, so rocky, it could not be broken by the greatest of hurricanes, as we tend to get in these parts. My delight broadened with each brick I laid, until I came to view my house as I see it now. It is void of a roof, and window panes. The door is not yet installed, but it is a sturdy structure. I am pleased with the house of my soul. It will not be moved.

Just over the dune, away from the street I have built upon, I see the ocean looming. The majestic rumbling of another storm is on the verge of the breaking dawn. My roof is finished. The windows and door are installed. The timing is exact.

The crackling thunder stirs me to the core. The lightening, for a moment, illuminates a sight for which I am aghast. There is the youth on the beach struggling with his lean-to. Or is it a hut? He seems to be throwing limbs on top. It as if he has had no thought for his safety at all. The beach is the worst place to be in a storm. His heartstead can surely not have been made secure there. The storm will damage it beyond repair. What will become of this soul?

The storms intensity is too great. I cannot go to his aid. The waters rises. There is no help for him. He is washed away, out to sea, a lost soul. If only he had built on his life wisely. The neighborhood will miss him. Tears will be shed, as I bear them even now.

If only there had dwelt in his heartstead what dwells in mine. *“That love of Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” He heard the Words of life, but refused.

*Ephesians 3:17 (NKJV)
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Member Comments
Member
Date
nicole wian
04/10/09
Very good. Very creative link to the topic.
Beth LaBuff 
04/13/09
I like how you've written this in story form to illustrate the verse about building your house on the rock. Nice work.
Lollie Hofer 
04/14/09
This is one of my favorite Bible verses and I like how you carry it out in the theme of your story. Well written. I never thought about the wise man having compassion for the foolish man. Good point.