Shrine of Democracy
Yesterday Americans did what they do every four years. They voiced their opinions about who they want to serve in the White House.
President John Adams was the first American president to live in the White House. He moved in on November 1, 1800, just days before election day. On his second night there he wrote one of his many famous letters to his wife, including this ending: “Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.”
As I continue to carry you along on our ten-day, nine-state journey to Mount Rushmore and back, I would like to jump ahead on this post-election Wednesday and tell you about our visit to the giant monument, usually called Mount Rushmore, but titled the Shrine of Democracy by its sculptor Gutzon Borglum, son of immigrants from Denmark. The Shrine of Democracy on Mount Rushmore honors four presidents:
- George Washington, who laid the foundation for democracy
- Thomas Jefferson, who doubled the size of the country with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory
- Abraham Lincoln, who worked to preserve the Union
- Theodore Roosevelt, who helped link the United States to the world by building the Panama Canal
A Nighttime Visit
After five days on the road (including other stops in South Dakota which I plan to tell you about later), we made it to our final destination on a Friday night. Before finding our little (and when I say little, I mean little) cabin in the Black Hills, we drove straight to our journey’s destination, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, carved into a granite peak in the Black Hills.
At the top of the almost empty parking garage, we spoke with an immigrant from India who was getting back into his car along with relatives from back home, before walking to the monument ourselves. As we walked through the crisp dark night down the long avenue of flags leading to the monument, we were the only visitors heading that way.
On that cold October night, when we reached this tourist destination that draws almost three million visitors a year from around the world, we saw only one lone young couple, former Californians who now live in the oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. They told us they were glad to see us because they were beginning to feel very strange as the only folks around. She snapped our picture and I snapped theirs.
A Morning Visit
We got busy with other sites and activities on Saturday and Sunday and didn’t get back to Mount Rushmore until Monday morning. We were excited when the parking attendant told us when we entered that that was the exact day 75 years before when the carving at Mount Rushmore was completed!
I am thankful that we got to see the monument in two lights, artificial lights against the nighttime sky . . .
. . . and the early morning light that God made. That morning light that God made is the reason Gutzon Borglum chose to face the Shrine of Democracy in the direction that he did.
Monday morning was chilly and blustery, as you can see.
The museum at the Mount Rushmore National Monument had displays about the men and women who worked there and examples of equipment they used.
I am in awe of their sacrifice and dedication. Another impressive item I saw on display was this poster of the Mount Rushmore Preservation Fund.
An Indian immigrant and his relatives from India, a California couple who moved freely to take advantage of an economic opportunity in North Dakota, and we travelers from Tennessee were able to visit the Shrine of Democracy because we live in a country with a Constitution that requires its leaders not to demand our support but to ask for it and that is what our votes mean each election day.
God doesn’t demand anything from us either, but He does ask us to give Him our all.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God were making an appeal through us;
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20