30 Years Later I Still Don't Understand Why...

....so said the Trucker as we again passed the....unique, to be kind....sculpture on the Salt Flats of Utah.

Meet Metaphor, the Tree of Life.

It stands on the north side of Route 80, forty miles east of Wendover, Utah.

This monstrosity was conceived in the mind of one Karl Momen, a Swedish sculptor.  It seems he was driving through the desert of Utah, and had a vision (mirage??) of a tree.  He arranged for Metaphor to be constructed in the early 1980's as a representation of his vision.  I guess on the Salt Flats of Utah, zoning isn't a really big deal.  Though, this vision of modern art is rather a jolt for conservative Utah.

Wikipedia tells us,

The sculpture, which is constructed mainly of concrete, consists of a squarish 'trunk' holding up six spheres that are coated with natural rock and minerals native to Utah. There are also several hollow sphere segments on the ground around the base. The sculpture currently has a fence surrounding the base to protect people from falling tiles.

From treeofutah.com, I learn that Metaphor is comprised of:

100 tons of chrysacolla rock, 

40 tons of epoxy, 

160 tons of steel, 

15 tons of colored cement and sand, 

18,000 imported ceramic tiles, 

5 tons of welding rods, 

7 tons of timber, and

20 tons of plaster.  

The foundation is supported by 25 steel encased concrete piles, each driven 90 feet down into the loose soil and sand of the desert.  Finished weight is 875 tons, having consumed 21,000 man hours of labor and $1,000,000 of Karl Momen's personal funds. It is built to withstand desert winds of up to 130 miles per hour, and earthquakes up to 7.5 on the Richter scale.  

Interestingly, the Tree of Life was also meant to be a "veiled reference to the concerns with environmental issues prevalent in the 1970's," and "a symbol of preservation and survival."  My mind struggles to line that up with the cost and materials of the construction project.

Karl Momen himself, in one of the 

spheres, during construction.

Metaphor is 87 feet tall.  Just three feet short of King Nebuchadnezzar's golden statute.  

Inscribed on the base are the words of Freidrich Schiller, also used in Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  The last few lines caught my eye,

Brothers, above the starry canopy

There must dwell a loving Father.

Do you fall in worship, you millions?

World, do you know your Creator?

Seek Him in the heavens;

Above the stars must he dwell.

Did Karl Momen know the Creator?  Somehow, I wonder.  Though I do hope he did.

And, I might add, Beethoven's 9th has also been used to put music to words written by Henry Van Dyke in 1907, of which this is the second verse,

1. All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
   Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
   Stars and angels sing around Thee,
   Center of unbroken praise.
   Field and forest, vale and mountain,
   Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
   Singing bird and flowing fountain
   Call us to rejoice in Thee.

I like these words better.  Anything created by man is a poor attempt to mimic what our Creator has already, in His vast wisdom, done.  

Karl Momen dedicated his sculpture to the state of Utah in 1986, and returned to Sweden, from whence he came.  Though he did reappear briefly in 2011 to suggest that a visitor center be constructed around Metaphor, the funds for which, he thought, could be paid for by donations.

"30 years later, and I still don't understand why," the Trucker said.  He's been driving this route since 1985, and before that, riding it with his father.  He saw the Before, After, and During, of Metaphor's construction.

Through the windshield, May, 2018

The Trucker and I have some huge "Don't Understand Why" giants in our own lives just now.  For some they are curiosities, to visit and discuss on occasion.  For some they are reasons for prayer and fasting.  For some, they are sources of deep grief, and they weep with us.  The giants seem as unreasonable as Metaphor, and just as insurmountable.  

But even in the desert, in the Salt Flats of our lives, God is.  And about the question, is there really a God? we don't wonder if He exists, we know.  If for no other reason than this  in Romans 1, 

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

God has ingrained who He is in the minds and hearts of men and women, created in His image, whether they are willing to acknowledge Him or not.

Someday, we will know the why.  For now, knowing Who He is, is enough.