Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: PUZZLE (11/24/16)
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TITLE: The Stone | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gary Ritter
11/29/16 -
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He’d received many presents at that prior event: $72 worth of gift cards, a drum set, and from his uncle Gavriel a red gemstone that he said was carbuncle. “This is very special, Levi. It has been handed down for generations within our tribe of Levi, your namesake. Guard it with your life, for it is very precious.”
The advice intrigued the boy—that day a man accountable to God—and he tucked the jewel box containing the stone away in a secret place in his bedroom. In the years that followed, he forgot all about the stone, as the joy of his studies and the wonder of beautiful girls took most of his attention. He also mostly forgot about God.
When he left for college, Levi’s parents retained his bedroom as he’d left it, a shrine to the idols of teenage glories: posters of sports stars, a bikini clad model Levi had lusted over for years, and his old drums. When he came home periodically from school, he settled right into familiar memories, but never recalled the stone Uncle Gavriel had given him.
In his last year at college, Levi’s life changed. He met a Christian student of deep faith who took the time and effort to answer all of Levi’s questions. It left him in a quandary. He believed. But to be a follower of Christ meant—to his family and Jewish friends anyway—that he’d betrayed them. Hitler, after all, was a Christian, or so they thought. No self-respecting Jew could ever believe Jesus—Yeshua—was the prophesied Messiah.
That first Christmas, though, changed everything. Its meaning and wonder shone through to Levi. The virgin birth made him gasp in awe. What a gift from God!
He came home for several days to celebrate the New Year with his family. Inexplicably he thought of the carbuncle and retrieved it from its hidden location. He wanted to tell everyone of his newfound faith, but feared the response. Alone in his bedroom he began to pray.
Not long after he began praying, he started feeling warm. Eyes still closed, he shed his sweater, but that didn’t help. When he opened his eyes, his mouth became dry at what he saw. The carbuncle sat in its open gem box on his dresser. To Levi’s astonishment, it glowed a brilliant scarlet. He approached it with caution, yet couldn’t help but reach out to touch the stone. It sent forth radiant heat that didn’t warm the box or the dresser beneath it.
Levi had seen many strange things in his life, but this was the most mysterious of all. What an extraordinary phenomenon. He noticed that as he examined the gem, its radiance faded to its normal cool, dull red.
The next day Levi again prayed for guidance as to how to approach his parents about his conversion. Once more the stone came to life. In the same way, when he stopped praying, it lost its warmth and luster.
Puzzling over the sequence and what the stone could be, Levi thought to ask his uncle for insight. A much older brother of his mother, Uncle Gavriel had acquired dementia with few moments of clarity. Levi had no idea if the man could help or not.
He spent a futile hour with him in the Alzheimer's wing of the nursing home, repeatedly bringing up the carbuncle. At last he gave up and headed for the door after patting his uncle on the arm with a fond farewell.
“Priestly garment.”
“What? Uncle Gavriel, what did you say?”
His smile shone like a thousand suns. “Aaron. God’s judgment.” That was it. His head dropped, and a snore escaped his drooling lips.
Levi drove home in deep thought, perplexed over the stone and worried about his parent’s coming judgment upon him.
He wished he could throw a pair of dice to help him decide whether or not to go through with his confession. At home, he sat in the car fingering the stone that he’d brought with him. He began to pray, and the stone responded with heat and light.
Resolution came. He would seek to understand the nature and source of the stone. And come what may, he would boldly tell his parents about Jesus.
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Well done.
God Bless~
I think you need an article before the word carbuncle (the first time you used it).