In her iconic “Pride and Prejudice,” English novelist Jane Austen’s heroine Elizabeth asked the question, “What are men to rocks and mountains?”
In recognizing the beauty, and power of Nature; Austen referenced mountains and rocks not for their cold lack of animation but I believe for their longevity and millennial perspective. 
Similar to American conservationist Aldo Leopold when he voiced his belief, “Only the mountains have lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of the wolf.”
I do not know how often or to what depth I have pondered man’s influence on mountains, though I have noticed the removal of several for mineral purposes. It will seem at the very least a bit odd to someday gaze upon flat ground and be told of the hill that once stood there. Hills that went on to add nutrients to soil and substance to construction.
Mountains and rocks have long been used by historian and storyteller alike to reference the permanency of something. For centuries authors have featured them in countless literary passages. The messengers of the New Testament used “this rock” to describe the immutable strength and infinite endurance of the foundation of the church our Savior came here to create.
