Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Sometimes when you see something extraordinary, it takes time to process it. When visitors enter the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone, they look up and marvel at the multiple stories made of pine logs. I don’t know much about the history or construction method used in this building, but there must have been a careful plan.
I have read about farmers who built their barns without tape measures. Instead, some used story poles, which provided the measurement reference. Farmers made their own story poles and put markings for various purposes such as how many poles long and poles wide the barn would be. They had other markings for features like windows and doors.
It makes me think about God and creation. We don’t know anything about God’s environment that allowed the universe to be created. But when we look at nature and at people, we see what must have been the result of careful planning. It is interesting that we see a certain element of randomness and natural adaptation in our world. We wonder how the concept of sin has influenced that process. The topics are too broad to cover in a few sentences. But perhaps what we see currently is all part of a necessary plan for the ultimate conclusion of what it means to be free and responsible in the presence of the creator.
I don’t know if the builders of the Old Faithful Inn used a story pole, but they worked with imperfect materials to create something pretty amazing.