after a long tough wednesday melinda and i joined some of her colleagues for late afternoon tour of the stan hywet hall in akron. here’s a clip from their website…
in 1898, F.A. Seiberling founded The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, naming it after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of the vulcanization process for rubber. It was the turn of the twentieth century and the Industrial Age was forming modern America where cities grew and industries flourished. Akron, Ohio was no exception – it built its foundation on the rubber industry to become the “Rubber Capital of the World.”
Like many of his industrialist peers, F.A. Seiberling had architectural aspirations. Between 1912 and 1915, he and his wife, Gertrude, built their country estate and named it “Stan Hywet” (Old English for stone quarry) the property’s most prominent natural feature. While European country houses were based on generations of title and wealth, the American country estates were built by self-made financial giants. Vanderbilt’s Biltmore, Rockefeller’s Kykuit, and Hearst’s San Simeon, are well-known examples.
some 65,000+ sq. ft. under one roof. beauty, majesty…a testament to what good minds can create that has some lasting beauty. i put that in the context of things eternal and well we know it doesn’t even pale in comparasion. over the years i’ve had the privilege to visit and see other such structures. again they are a tribute to free markets, but it all seems a waste when laid out against the needs of so many. an interesting tension. 
i’ve just started reading the prophet nehemiah again. partly because of some things that i need to rebuild in to my own faith journey. a journey and a faith that i know will outlive any of these earthly structures. just picked a cool new bible that has me engaged. sometimes presentation can help move an old idea to new. our friends at group have a very cool looking nlt version called “live” or “live”. there’s a corresponding website to allow some interactivity as you study. very cool. ht to kurtjohnson for making me aware.
on personal note i need to give some props out to the folks at the ontario, ca office of vanguard car rental (national) you see in today’s mail i received my driver’s license that i had left behind during the journey to saddleback to the pd summit. i wasn’t sure exactly where i have lost it (the license that is) and that fact created some interesting fun while boarding the plane for home. i learned you can make it through security without a photo id, but only after you go through a very thorough search. anyhow. i had given up the idea of ever getting it back…but it arrived to day. good folks.