The Abandoned Quarry Poem

The Quarry Golf Course, Northern MN

Created from an abandoned Quarry near Giants Ridge.

The Abandoned Quarry.
By jl glass, July 20th, 2003


There’s an abandoned quarry in my soul
A mind scarred by the past and treasures stole

Left behind memories of what might have been
A host of beginnings but never an end

Childhood days of searching would be
Feeling powerless and alone – unable to see

I’m finding the answers arrive with much pain
But discovering the truth is breaking each chain

For anchored to this landscape of barren land
Would one day emerge a brand new man

My journey of crossing through this valley of scars
That once was a prison with imaginary bars

Now looking back is a peculiar place
And what seemed unjust now has a new face

To eventually believe that all is not lost
And the price that I paid was simply the cost

For the transformation God intended me to see
From an abandoned quarry, I found the real me.

Side note

Ancient history has recorded that all work on the stones used to build a temple was performed right at the quarry. Stones did not leave until they had been shaped and made ready. The purpose was to respect the holiness of a temple site. You see the site was considered holy even before the temple was built. The quarry was a place of preparation. What appeared to be nothing more than dust, chiseling, chaos and noise would eventually culminate in the creation of each stone being taken and fitted perfectly in its place.

Much of your life may appear similar to a quarry. You feel you’ve been chiseled, broken, dragged, and subjected to chaos and noise. You don’t understand why life has been so difficult. Your dreams seem lost in the thick cloud of dust hanging over your head. Progress seems constantly halted and your goals seem out of reach. Eventually though, you will come to a time in your life when the pieces will start to fit together. The dust will settle, peace will settle in, and a transformation will take place.

Whether it was easy or difficult, orderly or confusing, all the stones will begin to fit. As you’ve looked back and seen only tragic ruins, God’s eye has seen something completely different. The bad becomes good, the lies submit to truth, and He gives beauty for ashes. Eventually you’ll begin to take on the image of what only God could see. From a scarred and chaotic quarry will emerge a life fully capable, wonderfully designed, and ultimatley fullfilling its purpose of becoming a beautiful temple.

Conclusion:

Gentlemen, I challenge you to accept what appears as distruction in your past and see it as actually being the birth place for a transformation.