Daily Signet

Collection of Mesolithic stone tools

Ten thousand years ago the Mesolithic hunters armed with stones and pebbles had already attributed magico-religious forces to materials found in their environment. And, as their descendants began the 1500 year journey to becoming an agricultural society, humans brought forward the idea that material objects could carry a sacred force.

In an age of reason and materialism, it is easy to dismiss the idea that an inanimate object could have any power over the human. But there are 10,000 years of evidence to the contrary and perhaps the most compelling argument comes from the fact that man has consistently destroyed the objects of “other” religions in recognition of their power. The pebbles of the Birsek caves were broken in half to annihilate their force. The Taliban destroyed the statues of the Buddha. Even Christians “re-engineered” Elijah’s cup to make it their own.

…I am reminded that symbols and ceremonies are created for civilizations and thus can be destroyed by civilizations. What is meaningful is not their existence in context or their “realism,” but rather the truth that is in their creation. For in their creation is power because it is in creation that we find God.

Jamie Ziegler