Hello Church,
I hope this reaches you have a lovely summer. My family and I were able to visit ten national parks and monuments earlier this summer: Badlands, Wind Cave, Devil’s Tower, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier/Waterton, and Roosevelt were the highlights (for those of you who are National Parks junkies). I was reminded of God’s love and grace and the expansive beauty of our great nation at every turn.
When we visited the Crazy Horse monument, I was awed by the size of the sculpture. They boast that when it is complete, it will be the largest sculpture in the world. We watched the obligatory video there, but something caught my attention that I keep thinking about. Henry Standing Bear wanted
to acknowledge the contribution of the native chiefs to this great land. Frustrated that the great Crazy Horse was not being added to Mt. Rushmore, he turned to Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who had helped with Mt. Rushmore. Ziolkowski was a young man at the time, and in his own words and letters, Standing Bear asked him to spend the rest of his life leading a team to sculpt Crazy Horse into the side of a mountain.
Talk about vocation! That is what God does for us (and don’t we wish it was always this clear). God comes to us and calls us to specific ways of life, pastimes and sometimes careers. Vocation is how we use our time to worship and honor God and to love one another.
When Standing Bear called Ziolkowski, he said yes and spent the rest of his life sculpting. Let us pray that when God calls us (and God does call each one of us), we can respond with the same confidence and determination.
I am grateful we are all called by God together to worship and serve as SecondFirst Church.
Peace be with you,
Rebecca