Oh To Be Level 04/16/19

Georgia Veterans State Park, Cordele, Georgia

For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did.  And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. ~ Matthew 21:28-32

It seems Jesus spent Tuesday of Holy Week sparring with the religious leaders while He also taught His apostles and the other people (disciples) who followed Him.  He taught them about the difference between acting like a lover of God, and actually being a lover of God.  And every time the leadership tried to catch Him with one of their questions, He fended them off with Truth.  And then He turned to the people and began criticizing the teachers of the Law and Pharisees – aka the Seven Woes.  And then He shared with them signs of the End Times.  And all this covers eight pages in my Bible!  That’s a lot of ground to cover in one short post.  I’m not even going to try. 

Today, I’ll focus on what I know.  The parable of the two sons.  We have two sons.  At one time, when they were growing up, our sons behaved much like these two sons, so I understand what Jesus is talking about.  And it fits me personally, as well.

Jesus tells them about a man with two sons.  When he asked them to help with some chores, one said “No way!”, but then later thought better of it and obeyed his father.  The other said, “Yes, sir.  I will!”, but then he changed his mind, or got distracted, or was never sincere in the first place and was just placating his dad with the words he thought his dad wanted to hear, and so he didn’t listen and do what he was told.  And Jesus asks, “What do you think?  Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

And every one agreed that it was the first.

And Jesus essentially insinuated, “You’re right!”

So what does this mean for us?  I confess that most of the time, when God requires something of me, I’m like the first son.  Remember Palm Sunday, when I mentioned my “Fine!” moment?  That’s me!  I usually say, “No way!”  But then I think better of it and do what I’m supposed to do.  Sometimes those moments require me to talk to someone I don’t want to talk to.  Sometimes He expects me to behave Christ-like in a situation where I don’t want to.  Sometimes He requires me to step out of my ‘comfort zone’ and do something.  But mostly, He just wants me to love Him and love others – unconditionally and without question.

It’s the questioning part I struggle most with I think, because I question everything.  I always have.  Just ask my mom, my former bosses, or Blaine.  I ask a lot of questions in my attempt to gain control over a situation or learn something new.

But I digress.

I think the point Jesus was trying to make here, is that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law (that’s the Old Testament, plus the stuff they added to it) thought they were all that and a bag of chips.  They thought they were close to God because they had all these rules and regulations and they expected everyone to abide by them and they thought themselves better – much better – that any other Jews or any other people group.  And so, they believed that they were in God’s good graces by doing these things.  In other words, they said, “Yes!” to God, but then they didn’t do what He really wanted them to do.  They were distracted by all their rule-keeping and monitoring of others, or they were never sincere in the first place. They refused to give Him their hearts or be obedient to what He expected of them.  They did their own thing instead.

On the other hand, there were the people they considered the scum of the earth, which was anyone they thought was beneath them.  These people said, “No!” to God.  In some cases, probably because they saw how the high-falutin, unforgiving Pharisees behaved and looked down on them, so why in the world would they want anything to do with a God like that?

Can you blame them?

But then Jesus came along and He was different and they liked that and they felt cared about.  And that’s a God they could relate to.  And so even though they’d said, “No way!” initially, they came around and became believers and followers of The Way (as they called early Christianity).

We need to constantly monitor which “son” we are.  If you can’t be perfect, I think it’s okay to be the first.  It’s not okay to be the second.  But if you discover you’ve become (or are) that second son, you can change and become the first.  Ask forgiveness and try again.  He waits for us to come to Him with open arms 24/7. God so loved . . . He gave.

We moved today. 

Stone Mountain Park, Stone Mountain, Georgia

It was not a great moving day.  We left Cordele at 10:50am and after 158 miles, arrived at Stone Mountain at 2:10pm.  But we didn’t stop setting up until 3:20pm.  I say stop for a reason.  It’s because we just stopped.  Blaine threw up his hands and said, “Enough!”  And then drug me up a one-mile, 700’ elevation change walk-up trail to the top of Stone Mountain so he could release some tension.  I’m pleased to tell you that we managed without too much effort.

And it’s not really a State Park.  It’s just a Park.  I didn’t understand that until I found a timeline for the Park at stonemountainpark.com.  And of course, I just had to include the other information as well!  But at least not all of it . . . 😊

1838

Aaron Cloud built the first tourist attraction on the top of the mountain. The wooden tower was 165 feet tall with a 40 foot square base. There was a $0.50 charge to climb the tower.

1849

The tower blew down during a storm and was never rebuilt.

1865 – 1877

Reconstruction rebuilds the railways and in turn restores tourism and Stone Mountain’s quarrying industry. Granite is shipped all over the world. It was used at the federal gold depository at Fort Knox, the Panama Canal, the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and in the foundation of the Lincoln Memorial, just to name a few. Virtually every state has a building that uses Stone Mountain granite.

1887

The Venable Brothers bought all of Stone Mountain for $48,000 and ran the quarrying operations.

1915

Gutzon Borglum, a famous sculptor, drew up the first sketches of the memorial, for Mrs. Helen Plane, a charter member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). She was the first person to talk about putting a memorial carving on the mountain.

After visiting Stone Mountain, Borglum was convinced the UDC hadn’t been ambitious enough in their idea for a bust of Lee. He proposed what would be a 1,200-foot-long carving featuring 700 to 1,000 figures, with Lee, Jackson and Davis in the foreground and hundreds of soldiers behind them. The monumental work would require eight years and $2 million to complete, though Borglum estimated the main figures could be finished for just $250,000 (almost $6 million today).

“The Confederacy furnished the story, God furnished the mountain. If I can furnish the craftsmanship and you will furnish the financial support, then we will put there something before which the world will stand amazed,” Borglum announced before an audience of potential sponsors in 1915.

1916

Samuel H. Venable leased the north face of the mountain to the UDC on the condition that a suitable monument be completed in 12 years. Lack of funding and World War I delayed the start of the carving until 1923.

June 23, 1923

Carving begins on Stone Mountain.

1924

Borglum finished the head of Robert E. Lee and unveiled it on Lee’s birthday, January 19.

Feb. 19, 1924

Committee overseeing the construction of Stone Mountain votes to cancel Gutzon Borglum’s contract, following Borglum’s outburst in the local papers over problems with the project. Borglum went on to carve the figures on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

April 1, 1925

Sculptor Augustus Lukeman takes over the project. He suggests that three men, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, be enshrined on the face of the mountain. 

April 9, 1928

After blasting Gutzon Borglum’s work from the face of the mountain, Augustus Lukeman unveils his work.

May 20, 1928

The Venables reclaim Stone Mountain, ending any attempt to complete the sculpture. Lukeman was only able to get the figures of Lee and Davis finished before this time.

1944

First Easter Sunrise Service first held.

April 11, 1956

The Venable family signs a quit claim deed for the area encompassing Stone Mountain, giving it to Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, Inc.

1958

The State of Georgia purchased Stone Mountain and the surrounding land to create a 3,200 acre park. Focus was placed on development for recreation and entertainment and the completion of the carving.

Feb. 21, 1958

Gov. Marvin Griffin signs a bill creating the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, superseding the old Authority.

Sept. 19, 1958

Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, Inc. gives Stone Mountain to the state of Georgia.

And so, you’d think it was a State Park, right?  But then I waded through forty years of information and came to this:

1998

Herschend Family Entertainment selected to manage the commercial aspects of Stone Mountain Park as part of privatization effort.

Now back up for just a minute:

July 4, 1964

Carving resumes on the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial. It was under the direction of Walter Hancock. Roy Faulkner was the work crew foreman.

May 9, 1970

Dedication services are held for the carving although work continues through 1972. Vice president Spiro Agnew attends instead of President Nixon.

March 3, 1972

The Stone Mountain Carving is completed.

And just to give it some perspective, the entire carved surface measures 3 acres, which makes it not only larger than Mount Rushmore, but also just shy of three football fields.  It is recessed into the mountain 42’.  Robert E. Lee is as tall as a 9-story building.  Jefferson Davis’ thumb is the size of a sofa.  Davis, Lee and Jackson are all depicted on their actual horses – Blackjack, Traveler and Little Sorrell, respectively.

So that’s most of the history of the Park – minus the inflammatory stuff that I left out intentionally because this isn’t that type of forum.

Once there, we decided to stay and watch the sun set over Atlanta.  God painted a lovely picture again tonight!

And then we drove back to our very crooked home.  After the failed attempt, Blaine had talked with the woman at registration, but there were no other openings available for us, so we have to stay.  It’s a really nice site, it’s just that it’s as un-level as we’ve ever been, and the jacks can only do so much.

Here’s some pros and cons, and I’ll even let you decide what category they go in:

• We don’t have to make sure the front door closes
• It’s a great opportunity to stretch those leg muscles you don’t use very often
• We’re not drunken sailors
• We don’t have marbles to play with
• There’ll be no cake baking
• I’ve heard it’s healthy to allow your blood to rush to your head.  We can practice that in our sleep, and we’ll already be lying down if we pass out.
• Grease automatically goes to one side of the frying pan
• No need to run a plumb line inside the coach
• Should the need or desire arise, three of our four tires are able to spin freely

I think you get the picture. . . .

I have no doubt that by the end of day tomorrow, Blaine will have this figured out.  😊