Heart of Stone— Heart of Flesh

Heart of Stone from the foot of St. Columba’s Rock, Iona, Scotland – 2025 (nestled in Mom’s Sculpture)

 

The Rock That Found Me

In what wild, weird, and wonderful ways does God communicate with you?

I have a history of conversations with rocks — and awe is always part of the experience.

My heart-shaped rock from St. Columba—discovered at the sacred stone bearing his name on Iona, Scotland—now rests in my mother’s sculpture. (photo above)

I picked it up mid-conversation with our Iona pilgrimage leader, Linnea. We were speaking of the holy, hard work: how to hold our conservative, liberal, and progressive sisters and brothers in conversations of love and transformation—even when it aches. (And by “aches,” I mean wrestling-an-angel-in-the-dark level pain.)

The rock is a red heart on one side, a black and white heart on the other.

A mystery in my hand.
A metaphor in my soul.
Spiritual direction in a rock.

I shouldn’t be surprised anymore. After all, Jesus said even the rocks cry out.
Maybe this one just cried loud enough for me to hear.

It made me wonder about stony hearts.
Are they made of black and white and certitude?
Or are they simply hardened over time—
by bad theology, philosophical duplicity, worse coffee,
and decades of holiday dinners that went sideways?

Somehow, all of it—every shade, every side—must be held in the heart.
Talk about a heart-pumping, mind-blowing, action-oriented message.

Hearts of Stone, Hearts of Flesh

If you know my story—the “chase your dreams” rock from last year’s pilgrimage (from Ireland to England), or the tale of the Singer Island Triad stone—maybe you’re not surprised. These rock encounters have been a recurring language God uses with me.

The rocks below softened my heart from other “pilgrimage” moments in 2024. Like me, maybe you just smile, maybe shake your head, or wonder why God insists on speaking to me through rocks.

So loud.
So clear.
So… literal.

(Above Pics above from Pilgrimage Time 2024)

 

When Grief and Gratitude Collide

What I didn’t know on Iona was that my heart rock would take on deeper, more immediate meaning.
It echoed all the way home—to the very first morning back—when we received the heartbreaking, breath-stealing family news.
I’ll leave that deeply personal story for another day…

But this much I’ll say:

Grief and gratitude are two sides of the same rock.
They beat in the same sacred body.
And somehow—somehow—they are here to make us more human.
More in Cristo—more Christlike.

The Call to Carry Peace

And even as we return from Iona to a world still in crisis… increasing crisis—

  • Bombs bursting

  • Babies, parents, prophets, and the earth herself weeping

  • As dark forces surge—

May we bring our hearts, our light, our love
to a confused and grieving world.

Pray for peace—
and please, bring it with you into every space your body enters.
(Yes, especially at the family table, the group chat, even that committee meeting.)

Refuse to fight darkness with darkness.

Turn your “swords”—and your words—into “plowshares.”*
Let the bloodlove pump in your heart—
that fierce, sacrificial, Christ-soaked kind of love—
“Turn hearts of stone
Into hearts of flesh.”**

Because maybe that’s the whole mystery: Hearts may harden, but they are never beyond redemption.
And the Love that shaped the stones of Iona
Can surely reshape us, too.

A Closing Blessing

May the wisdom of the Iona Heart Rock shape us
Confront us
Comfort us
And live on in us.

May the wisdom of the Iona Heart Rock shape us,
Confront us,
Comfort us,
And live on in us.

May it offer spiritual direction in a rock—
crying out truth where silence once reigned.

And may our thoughts, our feelings, and our actions
lead us ever deeper into faith, hope, and love—

For the love of God,
Neighbor,
And self. ❤️🖤🤍

Reflection Invitation:

What “rock” or metaphor has spoken or cried out to you lately?
What conversation—within yourself, or across a painful divide—are you being called to hold with love?

*Reflecting the prophetic invitations of *Isaiah 2:4 and **Ezekiel 36:26.

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