Dale Ridge church of Christ

            My children and I recently paid a visit to the Peaks of Otter in order to try our hand at fishing in Abbot Lake.  Abbot Lake sits at the feet of Sharp Top and Flat Top at the Peaks of Otter.  While there, I took time to glance up at those two peaks, and I pondered on the role they played in the building of the Washington Monument. 

Thomas Jefferson once wrote that he thought that these peaks were the highest mountain peaks in the United States.  As a result, some of the stones from these peaks were taken and put in as part of the Washington Monument.

                The Washington Monument was built between 1848 and 1884 and was, at the time of its building, the tallest structure standing at 555 feet 5 1/8 inches (though it is no longer the tallest structure in the world, it remains the tallest standing stone structure in the world). 

The monument was built to commemorate the leadership of George Washington as our first President and stands near the west end of the Washington Mall in Washington, D. C.  Situated before the Washington Monument is the rectangular Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool which gives (very obviously and appropriately) a reflection of the Washington Monument. 

                A monument or memorial is for the purpose of reflecting on something that is tremendously significant from our past.  Looking into the reflecting pool in Washington D. C., one might think of the great qualities and heroic acts of George Washington in his role as Governor and as President at the beginning stages of this nation.  Other memorials help us to reflect on the various things for which they stand.

                One particular memorial, though very simple in its nature, is the greatest of all memorials.  The apostle Paul, when quoting the words of Jesus during the institution of the Lord’s Supper, indicated that our personal remembrance and reflection was a vital aspect of it (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).  The Lord’s Supper is a memorial feast.

  Spiritually speaking, it stands far higher than the Washington Monument and gives the greatest of all reasons for our reflecting upon it.  The Lord’s Supper is quite possibly the simplest of all memorials with only the elements of the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine making up its elements, but it helps us to reflect on that which should have the most value to every person who has ever or will ever live. 

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Filed under: Doctrine, Michael Carter on September 27th, 2008