Image: Barbara Ryther
The first time I saw this little cairn on one of my walks I was surprised that such a random and precarious collection of rocks could stay safely perched on a sloping boulder, and yet week after week it was still there. As my surprise changed to amazement I decided to take a closer look, and discovered that what had seemed to be random and precarious was in fact a carefully placed arrangement of rocks of different shapes and compositions piled on each other in a deliberate way so that each one provided the correct amount of support and counterbalance to the others. It was in fact a community…one body made up of different but essential parts. The unique shapes and angles of each individual rock were not a danger, but an assurance of stability and strength. Every time I see it now I think of a community built on a rock, reaching to heaven.
– Barbara Ryther