Some time ago I was handed a piece of stone. This artifact held a relic of someone’s life. As soon as the stone touched my hand I held it carefully, joining my two hands together to ensure its safety. I didn’t want to drop or otherwise mishandle this treasure. I was told it was more than two thousand years old; it was a piece of stone that had been shaped and decorated by someone a long time ago in a strange, far away place. Monte Alban in Oaxaca, Mesoamerica during the pre-Columbian period. Powerful stuff, I thought. This artifact was shaped and carved by a human being who was living during that period before the Europeans showed up.
I held the item and stared at it. I turned it over and around examining the texture, feeling the rough surface, and noticing the marks someone two thousand years ago made to decorate and record their thoughts and feelings forever. The stone was the size and shape of a sewing thimble. The piece could be stood on its broad end with the tapered part up. On its surface was carved a face. The punctured eyes were near the tapered end with the nose and mouth marked with punctures below toward the base. On each side of the face were incised ears; simple single curved lines in the shape of ears. It was a simple but clear representation of a person carved on a tapered finger size stone.
Another detail that had been punctured into the face detail is what caught my attention and stirred some part of me deep inside. The person who carved this piece of stone had used a tool to mark with punctures tear drops from one of the eyes back toward and around one of the ears. I instinctively turned the head on its back so that the tears ran downward toward the ear and around it in a semicircle. As soon as I place the head on its back so that the tears ran toward the back of the head and around the ear I felt a deep sadness well up inside me. I felt what I imagine the person who carved this stone felt and recorded two thousand years ago. Of course at this point in my examination imagination took over and the ride was deeply stirring as well as healing. I fell deeply in love with the person who sat some place in the Oaxaca valley in Monte Alban two thousand years ago and recorded a sad, reflective event for me to connect with in the future. Thank you, dear friend. I’m sorry I missed you but I got your message.
Love,
G. M. Goodwin
17 March 2017
Playing Fair and Being Kind 
!! Yes!
When I fully realized the treasure in my hand I could feel the time flowing past me in a long burst of emotion. This point in time along with some of the deep dives I’ve made have helped me connect to the earth all along the spectrum of time and space. Thanks, g.
thank you for sharing this beautiful and grounding story.
I was thinking of you while writing it, Lee. ❤