by David Scott Robertson
To celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary (July 4), my wife and daughter and I took a quick trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee to relax and play.
We stopped by Coolidge Park, one of the city's newest parks located next to the Tennessee River. At the park, there is a large fountain for the kids to run through, lots of greenery to stretch out on, and a pedestrian bridge crossing the river.
However, without question, the focal point of the park is the one-of-a-kind carousel, a machine that has a storied history and combines the old and new techniques of carousel carving.
In the early 1980's, a man named Bud Ellis founded "Friends of the Carousel" in Chattanooga and taught his friends and other supporters how to carve. When Coolidge Park opened, the carousel was its centerpiece. The ride utilized clear white lights, had a mirrored center column, beautiful round sweeps and fifty-two hand-carved animals that adorned it. In addition to the carvings, it featured two band organs, a Wurlitzer and a new Stinson organ.
The Coolidge Park Carousel combines 1895 carving techniques with 21st century technology to produce a one-of-a-kind ride. Painted on the bottom of the Stinson organ are the words, "Dedicated to Children of All Ages."
What impressed me about this unique carousel is that there is not another one like it in the world. These are not mass produced in an automated factory in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There are not two of these carousels; there is one.
The story behind the labor of love, commitment, and dedication of a small army of men and women banded together for the cause of the preservation and restoration of a piece of history may never be fully told. And the best part of all this is that my wife and my daughter and I got to ride it! A priceless memory was made thanks to the efforts of people we will never know.
This carousel is a one-of-a-kind creation harvested from the imagination of man. In the same way, when God makes a human being, he or she is a one-of-a-kind creation originating from the very heart of God.
In many ways, the Coolidge Park Carousel and a human being are similar. Both are ingeniously designed. Both have been meticulously put together. Both require maintenance. Both bring joy and laughter and pleasure to those who interact with it.
To me, this unique carousel serves as an exclamation point to the fact that people are so personal, so individual, so one-of-a-kind.
We've probably heard the comparison of people to snowflakes--no two alike. It's common knowledge that everybody's finger prints, even footprints, are completely different, so much so that they are relied on as verifiable sources of identity.
The Psalmist, speaking of God, wrote, "Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours" (Psalm 86:8).
Mankind, created in God's image, shares this amazing quality. Truly, there is none like you, no deeds can compare with yours.
While the Coolidge Park Carousel serves as an excellent illustration of the one-of-a-kind aspect of the nature of man, as with all the things of earth, it too falls short of the full revelation.
The carousel is an inanimate, life-less machine that one day Bible prophecy declares will melt with fervent heat and revert to the basic elements (2 Peter 3:10). Mankind, on the other hand, was designed to exist forever. The only question is where.
Christ did not die for machines or animals or buildings or political ideologies. Jesus died to redeem people back to Creator God estranged by sin.
You are so loved by God! You are so unique! You are so special! You are so valuable! You're priceless! You are God's masterpiece! You were created by a loving father who wanted a son or daughter. Earth would be a little poorer without you and heaven a little richer with you.
In a world that craves and often demands conformity, celebrate your individuality! Enjoy who you are and realize that God did not make a mistake when He made you. Scripture verifies that who you are, where you are, what ethnicity you share, and all the other details of you that are beyond your control were all part of God's master plan when He invented you.
My goal is to take all of me, just as I am, such as I am, and use everything I am to fulfill God's purposes for my life.
Let's consider today what God would have us do to make our unique, one-of-a-kind contribution to our world that no one else on earth can make in our place.
DSR
7/9/05