The Creation Reflects the Creator

Growing up, there were times when I would rather read about history in my bedroom, late into the evening, than eat a good meal with my family. Instead of food, I wanted to eat facts. I wanted to eat stories.

My mind starved to read – and still does.

Even though the past is gone forever, it ironically fascinates me to also be in such close contact with the past. I enjoy learning about the things that stood the test of time – and didn’t.

I’ve also found that the more true something is – the more beautiful its essence – the longer it lasts.

Four historic feats have always gripped my attention since I was young.

The first: Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System.

 

Before the creation of this complex system of roads, someone’s great grandma in Alabama couldn’t take the best US-19 S/US-98 S route to get her favorite groceries. It was more laborious than that.

The U.S. Interstate Highway System (coined “IHS”) was initiated in 1956 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Spurred by his observations during a military convoy, experiences in World War II, and Cold War concerns, he saw the need for efficient evacuation routes in the event of a nuclear attack.

I find the military experiment, the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy, most fascinating. A test in relocating military troops and infrastructure included an “excursion covering 3,200 miles from Washington D.C. to San Francisco.”1

With successful testing, the IHS paved the way for millions of cars – that great grandma in Alabama would be astonished if she saw what we have today.

As 

 perfectly says, in his essay What is beauty for?, “Everything that can be created will reflect the motivational state of the person or organization who made it.”2

The IHS was not only constructed from the mind of the creator, Dwight D. Eisenhower, but it also outlived him.

What about the film The Shawshank Redemption, which also happens to be one of my favorites?

This was me watching the film for the first time as the ending credits rolled in.

 

An absolute classic. A masterpiece.

If you haven’t seen it, please queue it up and watch it.

As Ryan Holiday says in pg. 4 of his 2017 book Perennial Seller, “Take The Shawshank Redemption, for example. As a movie, it underwhelmed at the box office – never playing on more than a thousand screens and barely clawing back its production budget in gross ticket sales.”

Holiday goes on to say, “But in the years since release, it has brought in more than $100 million. There are minor actors in that movie who receive $800-plus checks every month in residuals. Turn on your television this weekend and you will probably find the movie playing somewhere on some channel.”3

There are 1,492,143+ films on IMDb (not including TV shows and podcasts). 

The Shawshank Redemption “currently possesses the highest user rating of any film on IMDb [a movie rating and review platform].”4

The entire film is based on the 1982 short novel from Stephen King called “Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption”. Inspired by that, director, Frank Árpád Darabont, went on to write and direct The Shawshank Redemption film.

Darabont actually considered an offer to sell Shawshank to Rob Reiner, the actor and author famously known for directing Stand by Me (also another short novel by Stephen King). But Darabont decided it was his “chance to do something really great” by directing the film himself.

The outcome of the film Shawshank could have been totally different had Darabont not stuck to his guns; had Stephen King never written the original short novel. I’ll forever remember both of them for that.

 

Let’s look at another masterpiece that took many years of preparation, and execution, this time in the realm of material buildings and art.

The ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

How can something made 511 years ago still have the same potency that it did when it was originally made?

It’s like red wine. The longer it exists, the more rich in flavors it becomes.

Furthermore, people’s appreciation for Michelangelo grows in parallel to their awe of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel – as Michelangelo was the one tasked with the painting in the Sistine Chapel.

The preparation before his execution of painting this ceiling points to why it lasted so long. Beauty combined with detail has led to longevity and legacy for both the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo.

Before painting the ceiling in fresco (meaning “fresh” in Italian), “Michelangelo and his team were forced to manually chip away at the previous fresco on the wall for hours on end, so the ceiling could be prepared for the new decorations. 

Then, a thick layer of rough plaster, called arriccio, was applied to the wall surface. This had to be allowed to dry completely for some weeks, even months, before the next, finer plaster could be applied. 

Michelangelo then had to work quickly over the course of the day to cover the wet intonaco plaster with his images – if the plaster became too dry, the pigment would not sink in.”5

That was just the preparation.

As The Cultural Tutor further says in his tweet, “…. Michelangelo got to work in 1508 — it would take him four years to finish.”6

Four years. Just for the painting. Of the ceiling alone.

“…It took four years just to paint; the planning and the building took even longer.” (pg. 27 of Perennial Seller)7

Michelangelo worked so hard on this masterpiece that he had back problems for the rest of his life. Such is the case because “he painted it while standing, bent over backwards on a special scaffold.”8

The 33-year old Michelangelo made his mark on this chapel by pouring his soul into his creation. The intricate details are marvelous.

What was once a ceiling covered with the painting of a night sky, with stars over a blue background, is the now “an incredibly complex array of stories from the Old Testament, especially from Genesis, and of prophets and other biblical scenes, along with a motley crew of angels, cherubs, and more.”9

 

 

Let’s zoom out a little.

Well, more than a little.

Look to the Earth.

God is the greatest Creator ever.

I see it as I walk all throughout His earth.

The vast mountains in Monterrey, MX…

The 1000s of beautiful butterflies that flew by my balcony this evening…

The hundreds of humans I’ve met in my life who all have their own complex and unique mind…

God is eternal, meaning He exists forever, and because of that he created the longest-lasting, most-beautiful creation ever. Earth.

The God, who created all things, also created his Word. His Word is given to us in the form of The Bible.

As John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

It says in the Book of Genesis in the Bible, “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Gen 2:3)

In only seven days, God created the entire earth. Meanwhile, it took me seven days just to write this essay.

He didn’t just create the earth. He created the earth for us humans to dwell in.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27)

Because this beautiful creation is made from God, who is the Most-True Being of all, it will last longer than any man-made creation. 

The creation points to the creator. What you and I contribute to the world through our creation will be a direct reflection of our character.

A classic peanut butter jelly sandwich is what it is because it has peanut butter and it has jelly. Both need to be together, in order to make the sandwich.

Creation and the creator are the same thing. One can’t exist without the other.

When I think of the IHS, I will always think of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

When I think of The Shawshank Redemption, I will always think of Darabont and King.

When I think of the ceiling on the Sistine Chapel, I will always think of Michelangelo.

When I think of the Earth, I will always think of God.

I gave my all in this essay. Yet, I don’t cling to the outcome. 

Rather I am grateful for the work that was put into the creation of this piece.

I think of Ryan Holiday’s message to me in his signed book, Perennial Seller: “May all your work endure.”

May you decide if it will be so with this essay.