Take this Heart of Stone

 

Yesterday evening as the sun began to set, I sat on a black jagged rock that was once red hot liquid. Transformed a few hundred years ago, unrecognizable as it's former self, by the cooling of the ocean. The water below me looked different than usual, a wind swell without the wind. The sun scatters across the thickening clouds searching for a place to break through. Tiny sparkles danced across patches of water like schools of fish quickly disappearing then reappearing in another location. 

The traffic jam of boats busting at the seams with snorkel affixed visitors were no longer seen to the farthest left nor the farthest right. Just like me, the ocean was recharging in their absence. Elegantly timed sets now a mosh pit. Each one jumping up to bump the other in white tipped peaks. I watched the underbelly of the clouds darken in full contrast from the sky above them. A butterfly fought the invisible force that suddenly stirred up the leaves of every shrub and every tree, awakening the coastline. The wind brought the soft pattering of rain as the droplets increased enough to collect in my open palms. 

It had been years since I let the rain soak me through. The beginning struck nerves with reactive tension in the same way being touched by a person used to feel. I needed to take deep breaths for it to subside, but it did subside. Tension released to a soothing rhythm. It washed over me with gentle mercy. My heart tender enough now to welcome this kindness. 

 

I still rest in the swaddle as the light branches out from the core strengthening me by a new approach. The tiniest of shimmers slowly transforming it's neighbor and spreading out until they shine bright enough to break through to the surface. 

My heart a lava rock in reverse. 

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland  

And I will give them one heart, a new heart, and put a new spirit within them. I will take from them the heart of stone, and will give them a heart of flesh that is responsive to My touch. Ezekiel 11:19