Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Monday, September 7, 2015
Centering on the Cornerstone
Each day this month I’ve committed to Centering Prayer. And, to aid me in this prayer method, I’m choosing a name of God found in the Bible. I’m using that for my word of the day. My word—Name of God for today is Cornerstone.
Last week, I chose this Name with ease. I went down the list of Names I had in front of me, initially, and this one seemed good to me. Even earlier today, as I checked my list again to see which Name I was to use as an aid for Centering Prayer, I had no expectation of what I would discover once I started to pray.
When I got into the middle of prayer, I found out how confused this Name of God made me. Yes, I knew that the Apostles Paul and Peter refer to Christ as the Cornerstone, among other biblical references. Yes, I have sung the contemporary gospel song “Christ the Cornerstone” a number of times. But—what did it mean, anyway?
This gave me pause. I really was at a loss, considering what this Name was supposed to signify.
As I prayed, my mind shifted to my good friend Stu, a civil engineer and a professor of civil engineering. He is a sincere believer. I knew he would immediately be able to tell me not only what this Name of God signified, but also the purpose and significance of a cornerstone on a large building. (I found I was still very foggy about both purposes, and needed to remedy that.)
So, I discovered the cornerstone has—for millennia—been used as an important part of a masonry foundation for a larger building. I understand that all other stones (or, bricks) will be laid in reference to this Cornerstone. That makes so much sense to me, in regards to the Name of God. Talk about the light breaking and shining through to me.
Thanks, God. Thanks for giving me wisdom. Thanks for leading me to a good (basic) source of information. Thanks for setting Yourself up as my Cornerstone. I know I need to line up with You, and You alone. In your Son’s name I pray, amen.
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