In 1874, British soldiers (members of the 75th Regiment of the 1st Gordon Highlanders) were camped in the Giant's Castle area in the Drakensberg and the regimental cook carved the number 75 into a large boulder to mark the fact that they had been there. Kym and I visited the area this last weekend and you can still clearly see the carving on the rock. It was quite surreal standing in front of that rock and remembering that I had stood in the same spot 40 years before as a schoolboy. What struck me was that there is no evidence that I was ever there - the only remainder of that visit is in my memory; and yet an unnamed cook has left a mark that has survived 150 years.
I'm not urging anyone to go out and start creating graffiti in public places :) but I found myself wondering what kind of a mark I may make that might survive 150 years. As we start a new year, how might you and I live with such intention and purpose that the work God calls us to do and the relationships we nurture end up bearing fruit that outlives us?