There’s a somebody I’m longin’ to see, I hope that he, turns out to be, someone who’ll watch over me... (Someone to Watch Over Me by George and Ira Gershwin)
Hanging on the wall beside my desk is a photo taken by my daughter for a local artists competition. Even though she won with another photo(said the proud father), the picture on my wall is my favorite. She entitled it, "The Guardian."
It is a picture of a statue mounted above the windows that are front and center of The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. The statue is a Medieval Knight, the cross of Christ in one hand, the handle of a sheathed battle sword in the other. He stands at the ready to defend the castle against any and all intruders and exists for one reason only: the protection of the inhabitants of the house.
In 19th Century architecture, warriors, knights, and gargoyles were mounted on the window ledges and gables of many structures. Their purpose was to protect all who entered against evil and the spirits of evil. Biltmore is fully equipped with a variety of these protective statues.
Biltmore was a dream of George Vanderbilt's since childhood. Being a man born into great wealth, he wanted to build a modern castle in the Americas. The home took 7 years to built and in 1895 was completed. The floorspace of Biltmore is 175,000 square feet, the size of 88 average American houses and is the largest home in the United States. It served as a Vanderbilt homestead until 1956.
Its architect, builder, and owner was Vanderbilt himself. Vanderbilt was estimated to have a personal worth of over $200 million, which in today's economy would equal multiple Bill Gates'. Yet with all of his wealth, power and status, even a man of the stature of George Vanderbilt felt the need to build a place equipped with someone to watch over him...
...One of the greatest comforts of Christianity is that we have someone to watch over us.
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49:15-16
Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
The LORD will protect you from all evil;He will keep your soul. Psalm 121:7
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
Every time I look at Olivia's photo and see the stone face of "The Guardian," I remember that I have a guardian who has promised to be with me always, created me in His image, and through His Son showed me that he would rather die than live without me. He truly is "someone to watch over me."
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