Leaving a Mark
This afternoon I spent some time at Petroglyph National Monument near Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this national park unit one can see hundreds of petroglyphs. These etchings in stone come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. Each, however, was left behind by someone a very long time ago for one reason or another. A few days ago I was at Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona and there, too, saw numerous petroglyphs and pictographs. These etchings and drawings were, likewise, varied in size and shape and left behind by ancient Native Americans for one reason or another.
Basically from the beginning of humankind people have left evidence of their presence by carving or painting on stone. Perhaps in some cases the reason was to tell a story. In other instances it may have simply been the desire to be creative. As humans we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and I believe that part of what that means is that we, too, are creative individuals. It is likely that some of the etchings and paintings that have been left behind are religious in nature. Their origin may have been expressions of worship. 
Thinking about the petroglyphs and pictographs I’ve seen in the past week I have concluded that all of us leave a mark behind us. It is inevitable. The mark we leave behind may be intentional or accidental, but we will, in fact, leave a mark. I would argue that we should by all means strive to be intentional about this and that the mark we leave behind ought to be a positive one rather than a negative one.
Do you know what kind of mark you want to leave behind? I would hope that mine would include pointing others to recognize the goodness of God revealed in both Creation and the Scriptures. I want my mark to be one that leaves this world better for my having lived here. I hope that my photography will always be a reminder to people of the awesomeness of God’s Creation and that it will inspire people to take better care of the earth. I hope that my life will somehow be a reflection of God’s love.
If you haven’t given consideration to what kind of mark you want to leave behind I hope that you will. Doing so may help you be more intentional with what you do with your life. You will be remembered for something. What will that something be?
–Chuck
(The images shown here were taken at Canyon de Chelly N.M. and Petroglyph N.M. the past few days.)