A Memorial for God by J. S. Washburn

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 17, 1903

A Memorial for God

By J. S. Washburn

THE highest solid monument in the world is the famous Washington Monument, which is five hundred and fifty-five feet and five and one-eighth inches high. It was built as a memorial of the “father of his country.” The names of forty States and many societies that supplied a share of the money to pay for this mighty obelisk, are inscribed on special stones on the inside of the marble shaft—pure white marble without and granite within, tipped at the summit with a pyramid of pure aluminum, visible from below only from a certain position, and then on a particular moment of the day when it shines out like a brilliant star from the point of the monument. On this aluminum point are inscribed the Latin words “Laus Deo,” Praise to God.

Washington himself is said to have selected the site afterward adopted. The corner-stone was laid in 1848. In 1855 the shaft had attained a height of one hundred and fifty-two feet. Then the funds being exhausted, the construction was suspended for twenty-three years, and was resumed in 1878, and the monument was finished and dedicated Feb. 21, 1885. The total cost of the monument has been $1,300,000.

As I have looked upon this highest monument in the whole world to human greatness, this towering memorial of the master workman who laid the foundation of the last great nation on earth, as I have considered the ascription of “Praise to God” which fittingly crowns the summit, an inscription invisible from below, seen only from heaven, I have thought that a vastly higher monument must be erected in the capital city, on whose summit the same motto shall be inscribed,—a monument that shall stand for an infinitely greater government than the United States, for a Master Builder, a Ruler, incomparably wiser and more powerful than the revered father of his country. This last great, terrible, yet glorious message of truth sounding abroad God’s appeal to a world in rebellion—this royal invitation from the eternal King, for whom we are ambassadors—is vastly more important than the whole government of the United States.

Has the General Conference asked too much for the capital city when the appeal has been sent out to establish a memorial church here? I can not believe that our work will wait for years as the Washington Monument waited for funds. If all our people who are as able to give one hundred dollars, or even one thousand dollars, as was our brother in far-away Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, to give one dollar, would take the same interest as is revealed in the following letter from this brother, how soon would the amount still due on the church be paid, and the work thus far established in this national center!

“HONOLULU, H. I., Feb. 3, 1903.

“DEAR BROTHER: On January 29, at the noon hour, while waiting for my dinner, I picked up a copy of the REVIEW AND HERALD, and noticed an article you had written in regard to buying a church in the District of Columbia. While I was reading, I felt that I ought to have a hand in helping to pay for that church, and not having any ready money, I said, ‘Lord, what shall I do?’ The suggestion came, Go and hunt for work, and give the first money that you earn. I said, ‘Yes, Lord, I will do that.’ As soon as dinner was over, I started. I went about half a mile, and as I was passing a two-story house, it came to me very forcibly that I had better call there. But the first thought that came to my mind was, O, you have never got anything there to do. Nevertheless I said, ‘Lord, I will try.’ So I turned, and went to the side door, and was about to ascend the steps, when I heard a carriage coming into the yard. I waited until it came where I was, and then made known my errand just as if I had known that the woman was the lady of the house. Her answer was that she had nothing in my line of work. As I turned to go, she said, ‘Wait a minute, and I will see if I can find anything for you to do.’ She alighted from her carriage and started upon a hunt. When she had finished her round, she had managed to find enough work to come to $1.75, which I now send to you, adding to it twenty-five cents from my own purse. It is all the Lord’s. I am only acting as his agent. This is from your brother who is in love with the third angel’s message.

“N. F. B.”

A monument, a memorial, built of the enduring materials,—faith, prayer, labor, sacrifice, love,—will tower into the very heavens, and will last in its results for all eternity.

Up to the present date (March 3, 1903), $6,200 with interest to date has been paid on the church, which was purchased Nov. 1, 1902, for $12,900. Six thousand seven hundred dollars is still to be paid, with interest at 5½ per cent, or $1.01 per day.

Of the amount contributed by friends, not members of the Washington church, $1,500 was given by one person, $200 by another, $144.34 by “a friend,” and $100 each by two brethren, the rest in smaller amounts by friends in nearly every State in the United States, also in Canada, Hawaiian Islands, and England. We expect

in a few weeks to re-dedicate the church to our work, free from all debt, truly “a memorial for God,” and a testimony to the people of the nation’s capital, of the reality of the faith of Seventh-day Adventists in the third angel’s message. J. S. WASHBURN.