Susan LaffertyThe children ask, “What do these stones mean to you?”
So they hear stories of remembrance. About the journey to the Jordan.
And the precise moment priests stuck their toes in the river. While carrying the ark of the covenant.
Their elders say the water just stopped. And piled in a heap. During flood season. When the Jordan regularly overflows its banks.
And then the riverbed lay dry before them. Ready for their crossing.
The cross.
Reserved for the god-forsaken.
Destination of lawless ones. Convicted of stirring up insurrection. And strategizing destruction.
Those rehearsing murder or thievery as a way of life deserve this end.
So they say.
Simple earthen vessels. There they are.
Wading through laws in Leviticus, I see them. In the details. Amid ritual regulations for priests, Levites, and the people of God.
In these particular earthen pots, they boil the sin offering. That only priests may eat.
Their use is short-lived in the days of the Old Covenant. Bronze bowls can be scrubbed clean. Earthenware can’t.