The Writing on the Wall

The Writing on the Wall. Scripture Rocks Heritage Park. , This engraving is part of a rock cluster that addresses the local clergy, including a prominent area clergyman, Dr. J. Bell Neff, the District Superintendent of the Methodist Church., Here Stahlman quotes the Book of Daniel and refers to the ominous fate of the Babylonian king Belshazzar. During a great banquet the king and his nobles witnessed a mysterious hand which wrote the words MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN on the wall. The terrified king summoned the wise men of Babylon who were unable to translate the words. The king then summoned the prophet Daniel, who informed the king that the hand was sent by the true God as a sign for the king to repent., In his manuscript, Stahlman was often critical of local ministers whom he accused of slandering him. Here he is issuing a warning to Reverend Neff and others. He is saying, in effect, that they need to "read the writing on the wall.", "But in a short time most of those who had been so deeply interested quit coming to the meetings, and when I met them and asked them to come they were cool and distant toward me, and made excuses for not coming. Some weeks later a friend said that he could tell me what caused the change in attitude of those people toward me. He then related a most atrocious slander about me and my children that had been circulated about town, and said it was reported that some minister of the gospel was responsible for the story." , -D.M. Stahlman, [Photo caption reads] Discovered September 2015