As I struggled with my wandering thoughts, I finally reached a different conclusion. After much deliberation, what seemed to make no sense, made perfect sense to me! I know this must sound odd, but this is what I’ve found. Somehow it doesn’t feel like this is real to me. Quite honestly, I don’t see how it possibly can be. When I take that somber drive throughout our fallen town, it definitely becomes surreal, in a closer distant way. It’s like that classic western when the rancher’s family gasp & weep, as they stare in disbelief. A devastating calamity, much to their dismay, their homestead, land, their life, seemed completely wiped away. In a moment, an instant, all they had is lost. What is left just stands alone, their bedrock tombstone chimney! This witness to their purpose, their life it represents; a landmark souvenir, a tower in the dark. Their lonely desperation, this all familiar scene; I’m watching from the outside but, I’m seeing from within. It hits a chord that grieves my heart yet binds me closer to; connecting to my neighbors, new friends & family. What happens next, I must confess, seems quite remarkable. This next scene is the beauty of why we can’t forget. The hardship of the lone prairie life, shared the trail with these pioneers. Now these same ones came to help, to comfort & rebuild. This family’s towered bedrock, their lonesome chimney stack, no longer just a grave site marker, to display their shattered past. But now much more it has become, a special place, a cornerstone, to their present future cast. That’s the true grit reality I want to focus on. Not the one of disbelief but this, community. Side by side, step by step, I’ve seen the hands of mercy. The gentle arms of love amongst our bravest townspeople, through this loss they rise above. Now I see these landmarks as I drive down crooked lanes, or up the hillside patchy roads, around to center streets. They’re a haunting memorial, of what our precious lives once stood for. Yet what they are today, is not what they shall stay, but what they shall become. I look upon these talking towers as monuments my friend, not just red brick chimney stacks. For now, they tell a different story. A new scene will begin in the bedrock of our home, our town, our memorable Tombstone Chimneys!
