Mount Rushmore and You
Posted: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
by Mark Totilo
Isaac's Tent Ministries
Mount Rushmore is a beautiful display on the crossroads of engineering and art. It took fourteen years to finish this delicate project in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of this colossal stone edifice, said in regards to the Mount Rushmore project "it is the formal rendering of the philosophy of our government into granite on a mountain peak." This monument to America was meant to be a time line from the inception of the United States to the 20 th Century.
A 1:12 ratio scale model was constructed of the four presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The model served as a guide to engrave the face of history into the granite hills of South Dakota.
A "pointing" machine was used to transfer the exact dimensions from the model to the mountain. A metal shaft was placed through the center of each model head with a protractor at the base and a horizontal ruled bar that moved to measure the angle from the center axis. A weighted plum line which measured the distance from the central head point and also the vertical distance from the top of the head. These calculations were multiplied by 12 and then transferred to another apparatus on the mountain.
With the blasting completed, each day the workers ascended to the summit then descended by cables in Bosun Chairs to drill thousands of holes to honeycomb the remaining rock. All the while a blacksmith sharpened hundreds of the quickly dulled drill bits. Suspended above the jagged rock floor, with lives at risk they pursued the completion of a great work of art. In the final stages of the formation of the awesome monument, workers would chisel away the remaining rock. They would bump the honeycombed rock away with pneumatic hammers to create a smooth white surface.
Attention to detail in the sculpture brought the abstract to life. The pupils are shallow recessions with projecting shafts of granite, and from a distance they give the eyes a sparkle, bringing the presidents to life.
The knowledge to perform these wonderful feats of human engineering are derived from our eternal creator. In the story of these marvelous carvings we find several spiritual lessons.
The trials we face blast away at the rough outer exteriors of pride, arrogance and sin in an effort to strip away the obstacles that keep us from entering into a true intimate relationship with Yahweh. His glorious presence burns away those hindrances and reveals the true people we are. This is why Rabbi Shaul said in Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
The "pointing" machine used to transform the mountain is like the blueprint of the Torah and the testimony of Yeshua. The Hebrew word Torah comes from the root Yarah, which means to teach or to point. The Torah aims us in the right direction. As we follow Yeshua we take pointers from Him and we become transformed into His likeness.
People shape us too. Some we love, others we tolerate, and others we just wish would go away. However, people tend to rub us the wrong way, expose the jagged edges, and bring to light the hidden crags. Solomon voiced an interesting thought in Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." When those two pieces of metal come togther there is friction and sparks start to fly.
With the bulk of the construction completed there is the polishing stage, to smooth and to make white. The Hebrew word for white is laban which has a lamed and a bet, where we get the word for heart, Leb. This whole process is a work of the heart and is meant to make us pure, white, and holy. The High Priest after being sanctified would wear white when he went into the presence of the Almighty.
Detail and thought went into the finishing touches on the eyes. Our Father's eyes behold and see our beauty longing for us to come to Him each day in prayer and intimacy. We have been sculpted to be the apple of Yahweh's eye which makes us precious in His sight.
By the power of the Ruach Ha Qodesh each believer is being transformed into the likeness of our creator. He is our master sculptor, shaping and molding us with the trials and tribulations we face. In the crucible, Yahweh gives us the strength to overcome our fleshly desires. Psalm 121:1-2 says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." Like the faces of those presidents on Mount Rushmore were carved from solid granite, we too have been carved out of this world and fashioned to be a Bride for our Messiah, Yeshua. Let us lift up our eyes to the hills and praise and thank Him for what he created us to be.
This Article has been viewed 184 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)A very interesting and informative article. I have often felt that the task of creating those faces had to be a very daunting one.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.