I got out my road atlas to find it just now and noted the “point of interest” caption in tiny red letters—“Former Site of Old Man of the Mtn.” “Former site”? What?! Did they move it?! Actually it collapsed. Cannon Mountain’s “face” fell off and rumbled down to Profile Lake in the middle of the night in 2003. Locals were shocked but not surprised when word got out that Cannon Mountain had “lost face.”
Centuries of freezing and thawing had formed tiny cracks in the Old Man's forehead. The cracks had gradually widened through the years. In the 1920s they stitched the fissures with heavy chains. In 1957 the Old Man “had some work done”: twenty tons of fast-drying cement, a plastic cover, steel rods for extra support and a concrete gutter to keep the rain water off his “face.” The state kept the patchwork up to date each summer.
But these external, “cosmetic” facials did not fix the problem below the surface. Little drops of winter water kept seeping deep down into the cracks. Seeping and freezing. Freezing and splitting. The ice split and broke the old rock. And it gave way. And it fell with a great crash.
Collapse in the life of a Christ-follower is rarely a big, blaring blowout. Usually it’s a long, slow, quiet leak. Take anyone you know with a self-inflicted problem. Say a couple is divorcing after being married for decades. Rewind the tape and take a close look at their lives ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. Where are the “leaks”? Where are the “cracks”? What are they ignoring? What are they lying about or denying? What are they minimizing, rationalizing or excusing?
Or look at this from another perspective. What do we need to do today to prevent spiritual “leaks” and “cracks”? If your love for Christ is leaking… If cracks are widening somewhere in your life… If those around you know you’re about to fall apart… “cosmetic” and superficial treatments aren’t enough. “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting.” Only radical surgery can stop the leaks. Only God can change a cold heart of cracked granite into a new and living heart. It may be time for you to stop minimizing, rationalizing, and excusing yourself, and blaming everyone else. Find someone who will speak the truth to you in love and let them help you.
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:8–9
