Today seemed to me to be somewhat of an odd day. It was beautiful, weather-wise. But any sort of rhythm that I have managed to develop while on the road felt disrupted. I was so tired last night that I turned in early. The domino effect then led to us getting a late start this morning. It was Sunday, but I wasn’t in church. I haven’t been to Mass in almost a week. Even my practice of praying the Daily Office has taken a hit. And I am feeling it, although in subtle ways. The difference has sort of snuck up on me. But the impact is real. I’m aware, today more than ever, of the importance of daily rhythms and spiritual disciplines. Blessedly, our God is compassionate and patient and always ready for us to begin again.
When we did eventually get underway this morning, we headed for Mount Rushmore. For me, visiting Mount Rushmore was a strange experience. For days we have been traveling over two lane highways through vast uninhabited areas. The twenty or so miles from our hotel to Mount Rushmore are significantly more developed. There were almost always at least four lanes on the highway. And the route is lined with tourist attractions and billboards.
Mount Rushmore itself is, of course, iconic.
It was, especially for its day, quite a feat of engineering to carve these heads into the side of a mountain. It is really in the middle of nowhere. It makes one wonder why this spot was chosen for such a monument.
The thing that struck me most, however, was how the grandeur of the heads carved into the mountain pales in comparison to the majesty of creation surrounding the monument.
The ancient sculpted rock outcroppings have a different, to my mind greater beauty.
I wonder… Are we at times so eager to admire our own achievements that we are blind to what God has done? Does this lead us to devalue creation, believing we can use it for our own purpose, degrading it rather than stewarding it, without really giving it a second thought? Likely none of us would consciously take such a stance. But what do our actions reflect? And how do we imagine our Creator feels about this issue?
One fun side note to our trip to Mount Rushmore was the mountain goat we spied through the trees high on a rock. (Do you see him?)
He didn’t stay long. But as we left the park, he (or one of his relatives) was near the exit to bid us farewell. He was perhaps twenty feet away from us.
What is my take-away from today? Personally, I need to deliberately and decisively return to those rhythms and disciplines that have kept my spiritual life on track and have kept me grounded. It may be more of a challenge while on the road. But to do without them starves my soul.
Also, I hunger to soak in the wonders of creation. I find that my taste for the man-made has faded. It has its place, of course. We are made in the image of our Creator and therefore are creators ourselves. But I want to keep things in perspective and not elevate man’s achievements higher than they should be. And I want to care for the magnificent “artwork” that surrounds us every day, from the grandest mountains to the smallest flower.
“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it.”
—Genesis 2:15