Stone Art

I have always loved stones. I have wonderful memories of scrambling over huge boulders by the Shining Creek Trail River in North Carolina when I used to go backpacking long ago. I see lots of stones when I drive to Virigina. I can tell when I have crossed the state line because the topography changes noticably and there are suddenly stones everywhere — stone walls, in fields, and houses built of stone. I often collect “special” stones from walks or travels and display them in our home. I’ve taken to writing on the bottom of really special stones to help remind me where they come from as I often forget otherwise. Stones are durable. Stones are dependable. Stones build a great foundation. We can learn a lot from stones.

I met Joel Hogan when I began volunteering again at The Hermitage this past year. Joel is a spiritual director, a former missionary, and part of The Hermitage community in Three Rivers, MI. The Hermitage is a silent retreat center with an ecological focus that was originally founded by Gene and Mary Herr. Joel and his wife, Patty, have lived in various countries around the world and now have settled in MI to join their daughter and son-in-law, Faith and Troy Bierma, and their children, Yazzie and Priya, to support this important ministry of prayer and renewal. Troy and Faith are co-directors at The Hermitage.

Joel is an artist with stone and other natural materials. He uses materials gathered from his travels near and far to build birdhouses, crosses, and other artistic pieces. Joel shares a scripture and some thoughts below:

“But you place (human beings) just beneath God and honored (them) like royalty, crowning (them) with glory and honor.  You ordained (them) to govern the works of your hands, to nurture the offspring of Your divine imagination; you placed everything on earth under (their) feet,” Psalm 8:5-6, The Voice translation.

“The diversity, beauty and spendor of God’s creation reveals His eternal power and divine nature.  God’s creative genius is on display everywhere.  As God’s image bearers, we are co-creators and are called to nurture the offspring of His divine imagination.  The stones, shells and other materials are God’s unique creations and my rendering them into different forms is my attempt to nurture the offspring of God’s divine imagination.”

Joel displays his work at The Hermitage and 20% of sales goes to support the ministry. For more information: https://www.hermitagecommunity.org/about/directors/.