Did Charles Dickens have a deeper meaning in mind when he named his iconic character “Ebenezer” Scrooge? Its a topic that had never occurred to me until I heard the literal translation of the name, Ebenezer, which is “Stone of Help.”
It was the name given to a stone that was erected after a battle to humble and remind the victors that the help they received was supernatural. It was not by their own hand that they were victorious over a particularly brutal enemy who had waged war on them for years. It was by a power much greater than their own that supplied the vital help that resulted in the final victory. This stone, the Ebenezer, will forever be in this spot as a reminder. We all have our battles and we can all have our own Ebenezer stones. This is mine. It is alabaster from a Colorado quarry.
In working this stone, I preferred using hand tools instead of power tools because of the tactile nature of alabaster. Many people make beautiful sculptures of alabaster into a variety of wonderful things. For me, the stone has its own beauty. I use hammer, chisel, rasp and sandpaper so I can see and feel more closely what the stone is becoming. The natural color is obscured until the tools chip away the sharp edges and smooth the roughness. The only power tool was the drill used to make the center hole to show the color goes through the heart of the stone.
As the work on the stone proceeds, so does the battle of the day. After the battle, the beauty underneath is revealed. But it is not my hand that made the beauty. It was there all along. The stone is that reminder. For all battles, there is help. What comes after the battle can be something beautiful.
Here is how the revelation progressed: