Faith Beyond Measure

Description
Ceramic/Mixed Media
Size: 12 1/4″ h x 9 1/2″ w x 7″ d
Price: $148

The incredible rock in this piece was shipped to me by a very good Dutch friend of mine. She gathered it while on a trip to Israel. She is Jewish and had lived on a kibbutz when she was younger. She continues to travel there from time to time to connect with good friends. We are very connected in a way that is hard to put in words. I’m in San Diego. She lives fulltime in The Netherlands yet she somehow knew I needed a historical stone from Israel with a hole in it to add to an artwork I was sculpting. I was not surprised to find the perfect stone I needed when I opened up the box of stones she sent me. It happens on a regular basis.
This stone came from the Bethsaida Excavations Project (et-Tell). There is an excavation there that was has gotten down to the time of Christ that my friend happened upon. She told the group that she often picked up stones for her American friend who used them in her artwork. She asked if she could have a stone from the dig. They gave her a stone from the time period of Christ. It comes from the main street in town named Yvonne. The fact it happened to have a hole in it was perfect. It is what I imagined hanging on the tree when I sculpted it. Even its shape is remarkable. It fits in perfectly to the sculpture.
Bethsaida was a fishing village along the Sea of Galilee. Jesus criticized the Galilean fishing village of Bethsaida for its inhabitants’ lack of faith. In contrast, at least three of its native sons – Peter, Andrew and Philip – responded to his call and gave up everything to follow him.
He gave sight to a blind man and not far away he taught and fed a crowd of 5,000 with the miracle of the bread and fish. From the shore of Bethsaida he was seen walking on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus walked the streets of Bethsaida. Who knows if he stepped on this stone during that time or if it witnessed his passing? I do know that this stone was no accident. It was meant to be on this piece of artwork. Of that I have Faith Beyond Measure.