A STONE supposedly brought back from Solomon's quarry is the center of a Mason-related dispute in Missippi:

Various groups debate sacred stone's future
By Rachel Leifer

If King Solomon were here, he might suggest they split it in half.

But in the absence of that wise Hebrew king of Old Testament lore, the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and a group of Masons from Lumberton will have to decide among themselves what to do with an ancient stone. The stone is said to originate from the quarry used to harvest materials for Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.

"We're stuck between a rock and a hard place," Board of Supervisors President Billy Hudson joked.

Indeed, the relic's future is not set in stone. Embedded in a wall of the first-floor stairwell in Hattiesburg's Masonic Lodge since former Hattiesburg Mayor W.S.F. "Pa" Tatum brought it back from Israel in 1904, the rock came under Forrest County's stewardship when the Board of Supervisors in 2003 bought the building to use as a courthouse.

Masonic Lodge No. 397 was given a finite period during which to remove all items from the building it wished to keep. But due to poor communication and several key members deployed to Iraq, Masonic Lodge No. 417 of Lumberton Worshipful Master Christopher Holzinger said the invaluable stone was overlooked.

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I doubt very much that we have any idea where Solomon may have quarried stone for his building projects. But I have a feeling that won't solve this dispute.