Most Lifelike Little Lamb for Mary

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (I Peter 1:18-19)

What's more valuable than silver or gold?

A pure and innocent child, without spot or blemish.

That's why lambs are in cemeteries.  To represent the innocence and purity of those little lives lost.

Proof that Mary had a Little Lamb.

(Yep.  I had to go there.)

In a cemetery located in southern middle Georgia, the city of Perry, is a tombstone placed for "Little Sissie" – Mary Derrille Culler.  She was a daughter of Dr. & M. S. Culler, who died at the age of just 1 year and 9 months.  The lamb sculpted and placed atop her stone is one of the most lifelike I have ever seen.

A tidbit of religious history I found interesting was with Douglas Keister's entry for the Lamb in his book, Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography (2004).  He wrote (pg. 74):

Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures all have their sacrificial lambs tied to vernal (springtime) rites of renewal:  Jewish Passover, Christian Easter, and Muslim Ramadan.

So the symbolism of the Lamb crosses at least a few cultural boundaries.

Here is more of the epitaph inscribed on Mary's tombstone:

Beneath this stone in sweet repose
Is laid a parent's dearest pride
A flower that scarce had waked to life
And light and beauty ere it died
God in his wisdom hath recalled
The precious boon his love had given
And though the casket moulders here
The gem is sparkling now in Heaven

Sleep on, sweet one.

Top image from Old Blairsville Cemetery at Union County, Georgia.
Rest of images from Evergreen Cemetery at Perry, Georgia.
All © 2011-16 S. Lincecum