Life Lessons from the National Parks

March 29, 2013

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He showed Himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.  Acts 1:1-3

Seventy-two years ago, Gutzon Borglum’s most well known project was finished, after 14 years. Unfortunately, the sculptor didn’t live to see the completion of Mount Rushmore, because he died in March, 1941.

The 60-foot granite heads of presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln were not Borglum’s first works. His Mares Of Diomedes was the first piece of American sculpture bought for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He was commissioned to make statues for the city’s Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, he made Washington, D.C.’s large equestrian bronze of General Philip Sheridan, and created a memorial to Pickett’s Charge on the Gettysburg battlefield. In Newark, New Jersey, his Wars of America—a huge memorial with 42 humans and 2 horses, is set in Military Park—and Seated Lincoln resides at the country courthouse.

But Mount Rushmore remains Borglum’s most noted accomplishment (even though his son Lincoln put the finishing touches on it). “This is no mere ‘colossal’ stunt,” he said of the massive undertaking. “I am simply animating the mountain.”

This is the weekend we celebrate that Jesus is “animated,” or made alive. It is no “colossal stunt,” even though many down through the centuries have tried to discredit it. Even Scripture relates how the chief priests and the elders conspired against it: “They gave the soldiers [who had guarded Jesus’s tomb] a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples stole Him away while we were asleep.’” If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed” (Matthew 28:12-15).

This story has so many contradictions it’s laughable. How could sleeping people know what happened? Would it be likely all the soldiers were sleeping at the same time? And would they risk incriminating themselves even for a large bribe?

The Gospels and Luke’s letter that is now the book of Acts record several instances of Jesus showing Himself alive to His followers (Matthew 28:9-10, 17-20; Luke 24:13-31, 36-51; John 20:14-17, 19-23, 26-29, 21:4-22; Acts 1:3-9). The apostle Paul testifies He appeared to more than 500 people at one time, with living witnesses still attesting to that fact 25 years later (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). No, as the apostle Peter avows, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).

(To read more about the proofs of Jesus’s resurrection, go to author and speaker Josh McDowell’s website-scroll down to the bottom of this page for links under “Free Resources”).

Experiencing Mount Rushmore is awesome, especially at night, when the Park Service puts on a spectacular light show.

But knowing the “Living One [who is] alive forever and ever” (Revelation 1:18)—indescribable!

Comments (1) Mar 29 2013

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners.  Isaiah 61:1

I’ve been away from my blog for too long—but I’ve been busy for the cause!

Yes, my sacrifice for the sake of scouting out national parks was to go to Hawaii. Such a hardship. You’ll be reading about the life lessons I learned at the parks there in future posts.

For now, though, I bring you news about an exciting celebration happening tomorrow, Friday, a little closer to home. The Statue of Liberty is celebrating its 125^th anniversary!

Morning festivities include a citizenship ceremony (for a little insight into what that’s like, see the article I wrote for USA Today), music, readings and a “water parade” in New York harbor, all presided over by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. A new “torch webcam” will begin operation, offering bird’s-eye views from Lady Liberty’s torch 24/7. The day ends with a bang—literally—with fireworks, which will be streamed live over the website.

All these events mirror the dedication of the Statue on October 28, 1886, when President Grover Cleveland dedicated “Liberty Enlightening the World,” a gift of friendship from the people of France. A fireworks display topped that day, too, along with a flotilla of ships, and New York City held its first ever ticker tape parade.

I was just reminiscing with a friend about how we celebrated the Statue’s centennial in July, 1986. Joe and I had scored three free tickets to a concert to be held at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, right across the harbor from Lady Liberty (she actually is closer to New Jersey than New York; unfortunately, her, uh, backside is to us. No Jersey jokes please…). So the two of us and a friend made our way over there on July 3. I had just found out I was pregnant, which added to the excitement.

What I remember most from that night was that it was very windy, and the organizers had worked out this elaborate but terribly inefficient system of having us concertgoers park far away, and then transporting us by bus to the actual concert site. Needless to say, it was a madhouse afterwards, and we didn’t get home until early morning of the next day.

That evening, Joe thought it would be fun if we went up to the top of the tower at the college where he worked in Jersey City, which would offer a great view of the New York/New Jersey harbor (this is also where he watched the World Trade Center towers burn and collapse years later). We’d be able to see the relighting of the torch, which had just been refurbished, and the accompanying fireworks.

Problem was, the way up there is…a challenge. It involves climbing two vertical ladders, crouching along an attic walkway, and ends in an awkward scramble to the roof. We had invited another couple, who brought along their baby. Hauling him up was quite a feat.

Once we got situated (in chairs that Joe brought up), we quickly became chilly, because it was still very windy, so Joe traipsed back down to the theatre’s costume shop and got us some warmer clothes. We listened to the ceremonies on the radio (which Joe also carried up), and when President Reagan threw the switch for the torch, we oohed and aahed. And boy, did Joe pick a good spot for the fireworks!

Getting back down was downright scary. You have to make a small leap from the roof to the first ladder, and our friends were beside themselves trying to figure out how to do it with their son. Finally, Joe lashed the baby to himself with some of the costume shop clothes, and bounded over to the ladder (he brought him down the second ladder the same way). And did I mention I was six weeks pregnant?

But I digress.

Liberty is an overarching theme in Scripture. The verse I quoted at the beginning describes the ministry of the Messiah in a nutshell, prophesized by Isaiah some 700 years before Jesus’ birth. In the gospel of Luke, the writer relates the story of the day when Jesus entered the synagogue, was handed the book of Isaiah, and read that same passage. “He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16-20).

Let’s just say that all the good feelings they had for Him before (vv. 15, 22) quickly dissipated (vv. 28, 29). How dare He make that claim!

Ah, but it’s true:

–“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2)

–“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:32, 36)

–“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Don’t believe the lie that Christianity is merely a set of do’s and don’ts, a long list of “thou shalt nots,” of rules and regulations not relevant or applicable to modern times. The problems of yesterday are the problems we still face today—worry, fear, grief, loneliness, trying to figure out what life’s all about—and the Bible addresses them all. “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,” Jesus tenderly pleads in Matthew 11:28-30. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.

This “perfect law, the law of liberty” (James 1:25, 2:12) is freely available for all who believe in Jesus, God’s Son (John 1:12, 8:31). There are no ladders to climb, nothing to do but take a (yes, sometimes scary) leap of faith. Jesus has already done all the heavy lifting and made provision for every need.

But I promise you (and more importantly, God promises you—2 Peter 1:4, 3:13) that the result is really worth it.

Comments (5) Oct 27 2011

November 22, 2010

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty…But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:16, 20-21

In a little over a year, Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site will open its Center for Education and Leadership, right across the street from the place where John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln. The $25 million center is a partnership between the Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service.

The center will “explore Lincoln’s legacy and the aftermath of his assassination,” according to an article in The New York Times. It will complement the theatre’s museum which, along with the theatre itself, is being overhauled in anticipation of the center’s February 2012 opening, 203 years after Lincoln’s birth.

The approach at the education center, however, will be somewhat different from that of the museum, say theatre society director Paul Tetreault, and historian Richard Norton Smith, an advisor on the project. The center hopes to “provide a wide range of views on Lincoln and his legacy, allowing visitors to come to their own conclusions,” the Times piece summarizes. As Mr. Smith puts it, “This at least feels to me like a fresh attempt to examine what is in some ways a never-ending story from multiple perspectives over different generations.” (Frankly, I didn’t realize there were a whole lot of perspectives or opinions left to explore on Lincoln and his presidency.  Guess that’s why I’m not a historian!)

One interesting feature of the new center is a three-story tower of books, a sculpture stacking replicas of works written about Lincoln, just to show just how many there are. Which got me thinking about the number of books written lately about God. Here’s a list of some of them:

The Grand Design – Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Women, Food and God – Geneen Roth
The Shack – William Young
The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins
The Case for God – Karen Armstrong
The Evolution of God – Robert Wright
God is Not Great – Christopher Hitchens
The Reason for God – Timothy Keller

I haven’t read any of them (although my pastor says the last book is very good), so I can’t really speak about them with any authority. I suspect that I’d find Stephen Hawking hard to follow, since I don’t have a very science-oriented brain, and wouldn’t think much of the books by atheists Hitchens and Dawkins (as for God Himself’s opinion—He finds them laughingly pathetic, according to Psalm 2:4). My husband Joe found The Shack strange and kind of New Age-y, even though it’s targeted to a Christian audience.

But here’s what I find most interesting about all the God books: it seems people would rather read them than read the one book that’s the real authority on God—the Bible. And it shows. The recently released Pew Forum U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey finds that “Mormons, black Protestants and white evangelicals are the most frequent readers of materials about religions. Fully half of all Mormons (51%) and roughly three-in-ten white evangelicals (30%) and black Protestants (29%) report that they read books or go online to learn about their own religion at least once a week.”

And even though the survey says that, “many Americans are devoted readers of Scriptures,” only 37% say they read the Bible at least once a week, not counting worship services.

The survey goes on to report that only 71% of Americans know Jesus was born in Bethlehem (hellooo—doesn’t the Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” give a clue?!), and 63% correctly answer that Genesis is the first book of the Bible. And little more than half know that the Golden Rule—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”—is not one of the Ten Commandments (it’s found in Matthew 7:12).

Houston, we have a problem…

When people who call themselves Christians aren’t going to the definitive source to find out how to live as a Christian…well, the church is in deep, deep trouble. If all we know is what we’ve read about the Bible, instead of reading and studying it for ourselves, we leave ourselves open to the influence of perspectives that may or may not lead us in the right direction. And while coming to our own conclusions about Abraham Lincoln won’t do us much harm, our ignorance or superficial knowledge of Scripture can make all the difference in the world—in this one and the next. We fall victim to a “pick and choose” kind of faith, one of our own interpretation, and that’s dangerous. As Peter emphasizes in the verse I quoted at the beginning, the Bible didn’t just magically come together from stories people made up based on myths and old wives’ tales. It contains eyewitness accounts from those who were involved in the events, both in the New and Old Testaments, to whom God, through the Holy Spirit, gave the impulse to write down what happened.

Not that faith in the Bible is always easy. Peter wraps up his second letter by admitting that, “some things [are] hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. But, he goes on, “knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness” (2 Peter 3:16, 17).

So here’s a challenge for you, if you’re not doing it already: commit to studying the Bible. Not just reading it, but really getting into it. You can do this by regularly attending a group study, of course, but I mean a personal study, all by yourself. And I don’t mean reading a daily devotional either. I’m not knocking them, but using only publications like Our Daily Bread and The Upper Room to study the Bible is like subsisting on milk instead of solid food (and that’s a Biblical analogy found in Hebrews 5:12-14).

I happen to like the InterVarsity Quiet Time Bible studies—they’re down-to-earth yet thought-provoking, and really go to the heart of the Scriptures. If you go to InterVarsity’s website, you can download a study each day and get past studies, all for free (click on “Current Quiet Time” and “Bible Study Schedule” on the right side of the page). There are also lots of low-cost study guides you can buy from the site or at Christian bookstores. Or ask your pastor for suggestions, or just go to your local Christian bookstore, browse the shelves and pick one.  And while you’re there, buy two other great Bible study tools—a concordance, with which you can find specific words in the Bible (a study on a particular word or topic using a concordance is an enlightening–and even fun!–kind of study), and a commentary (I prefer Wycliffe’s) to further aid your understanding. They’re both a little pricey (and heavy!), but they’re good investments. Ask for them for Christmas!

You too can have the confidence Peter does, as he writes, “And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19), a probable reference to Jesus Himself (Revelation 2:28, 22:16).

May He and His words burn brightly inside us as we come to know Him better.

Comments (4) Nov 23 2010