The hymn Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing has this puzzling line:
“Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’m come . . .”
What in the world is an Ebenzer? And how do you raise it?
The men on our Into The Wild retreat at Camp Harrison found out this past weekend. An Ebenezer stone comes from I Samuel 7:12 where the prophet raises a large stone to commemorate the place where the people’s restoration to faithfulness began.
So Ebenezer stones represent fresh beginnings and a change of course for God’s people.
As part of Into The Wild, we took the men on a “wilderness walk.” The walk was marked with some Ebenezer stone piles. The setting was spectacular, the men were prayerful and silent, the sense of the Holy Spirit was palpable. Here’s what it looked like:
And this:
Thanks to David Loy for the photos. And to James-Michael Smith & John Pavlovitz for putting together the Wildnerness Walk.