In 1804, Thomas Jefferson set a stone in Washington, D.C.
The Jefferson Pier.
It was supposed to mark the exact prime meridian, the center of the world.
It was a bold vision.
A declaration of permanence.
A bit of a poke at Britain.
But today, it’s just a small block of granite
in the shadow of the Washington Monument.
Most people walk past without even knowing it’s there.
The monument towers. The stone is forgotten.
Greenwich, England, is the only prime meridian today.
That image lingers with me.
I might be important.
I might accomplish good things.
I might even hope to leave a lasting mark.
But declaring something as lasting doesn’t make it so.
Setting my stone doesn’t mean it will stand the test of time.
Even the man who penned the Declaration of Independence couldn’t dictate what history would remember.
What endures isn’t our intention.
It isn’t even our ambition.
What endures is the effect we have on others.
The love we give.
The faithfulness we live.
Monuments stand where lives are changed by what was said or done.
Everything else, no matter how grand the vision, fades into a forgotten stone.
So instead of trying to carve my own permanence,
I want to live in a way that carves strength into others.
Because that’s the only kind of monument that lasts.
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