Things Temporal

Will it last? That's what I've been asking of my surroundings the last few days.

A few days ago, English teacher Mr. Loving came into my room and looked at my poster from the First Emperor exhibit at Atlanta's High Museum of Art and asked if I saw the show? We talked about how cool it was that Qin Shihuangdi's entire tomb and the Terra Cotta army laid buried and forgotten for over 2200 years.

It was not until 1974, while digging a well, that some farmers stumbled upon the remains of the first and perhaps greatest emperor of China. The legacy of one of the richest men (and most brutal tyrants) in history laid forgotten for millinea. Except for the Great Wall, which was begun during his reign, his army of clay and opulent tomb were little more that myth and lore.

Coach Loving, who I call Dr. Loving because he's one of the most intelligent people I know, has been to China several time and actually met one of the farmers that discovered the artifacts. We both marveled at how this king, who is now believed to have amassed wealth comparable or surpassing to the Egyptian pharaohs and Roman Caesars, became a mere afterthought. Everything he built, but for an accident, was forgotten.

Babylon was the greatest city of it's time. No place on earth could compare to Babylon's wealth, prestige and might. Babylon was New York, London and Tokyo rolled into one mighty city ruled by great kings such as Sargon, Hammurabi and Nebuchnezzar. When the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah prophesized that Babylon would stumble and fall and not be raised up (Jeremiah 50), the people of the time mocked him in the same way that we would consider crazy a man standing in Times Square predicting that New York would disappear off the map.


Like Qin's treasures, Babylon became buried by dust and time. The city that boasted the Ishtar Gate and the Hanging Gardens was reduced to legend and tales. Even the site of the great city of Nebuchanezzar and where the Old Testament book of Daniel was set was unknown for centuries. How did such a great city, the center of Chaldean and later Persian culture and the site of Alexander the Great's death, just vanish? It was not until the late 19th century that archaeologists located the ruins of mighty Babylon buried in the sands of modern Iraq.

Qin and Babylon were incomparable in their time. And they were both lost or forgotten. What are the great things of our time? Which of those will last and endure?

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- II Corinthians 4:18

Sunday Observations - Apr 19

- Spring Break is over. It was low key, but it was good. I mean, I got in 3 bicycle rides, 2 motorcycle rides, 2 rounds of golf, 1 night of Quizzo, 1 College Football Spring Game, 2 pounds of crawfish, a great cookout and 1/2 of my house cleaner than it was before.

- Speaking of the Spring Game, made it to Atlanta for Tech's T-Day game. Gold defeated White 31-28. It was a sloppy game. First play was a fumble. It kinda of set the tone for the rest of the game.Offense made some good plays, even without Josh Nesbitt playing and Jonathan Dwyer Demaryius Thomas getting limited reps. Defense was okay. Special teams atrocious. The Spring Game is just a glorified scrimmage, but for a fanatic like me, it's a fabulous football fix in between the bowl games and the start of the season in August.
- Part of my weekend in Atlanta entailed going to the High Museum and seeing the First Emperor exhibit. China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, was a brutal tyrant who basically conscripted an entire nation to either work on his Great Wall, his Burial Tomb inside manmade Mount Li, or a vast army of clay that were to guard his tomb in the afterlife.
Despite being a ruthless despot, Qin managed to unify feudal China, standardize writing, weights, and measure. Qin (pronounced chin) left a lasting legacy through his unfication of China and this incredible terra cotta army.

- If you are in Midtown Atlanta, you have to eat at the Flying Biscuit. It has been a longtime favorite of mine.
- I sat at the bar in the Flying Biscuit and talked to a guy from Colorado named Richard. He worked in the tea industry was in Atlanta for a coffee convention. How do you get a job where you fly around the world tasting coffee? Sign me up!

- Did you know that the NBA is having a playoff? It's dumb that their first round games are best of 7 series. The whole thing takes to long. Make the first round best of 3. Then it would be more interesting!

Crush of the Week:
Read this entry from my friend Kate. I agree. Michelle Obama does the whole role of first lady well. She's classy, smart and was a hit with the Queen Mum. I like her. She's this week's crush.