At Mount Sinai God said to Moses, "Hew two tablets of stone." In other words, take two rocks and shape them for lettering, get them ready to write something on.

What was to be written? God did not say. Rather, he said, "Hew two tablets ... and I will write upon them." You get them ready, and I will do the writing. Moses obeyed. And the result was the Ten Commandments.

Over and over again, I think, God is saying to his people: You hew the tablets, and I will write upon them. Make yourself ready and I will come with a message, a help, a blessing. In true worship we do this - we come before the Lord and we say: "Here I am, Lord. I've done the best I can to knock the rough edges off my life. Now I await your hand, your touch - I await whatever it is you wish to do with what I bring." And you can count on this: When you have hewn your tablets and smoothed them as well as you can, God will not leave them untouched.