...and back again!

Well they did it! While I was out today some builders came and reassembled the scattered stones of our demolished gatepost, proving true the words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes that there is a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them together.

Only thing is.... they forgot to put back the gate itself!!

Hmmm.. I wonder if I should phone them up and tell them they need to come back, dismantle the post again, and do the job properly?
(Remember this all started with flickering lights!)
On second thoughts, perhaps we don't really need the gate after all. In fact it must be about 15 years since we last closed the gates over (when the children were small.)
Who needs gates anyway?

Well, someone clearly feels the need...
Since it was a very pleasant evening we went for a short walk down our road, past the first building site where the new villas are being erected, and then past the second site where some new flats/apartments are also being built. On a large billboard at the front of the building site is the architect's sketch of what the new development will look like.
Here it is:
And the description... "Situated in an exclusive, gated development of 26 luxury apartments with an enviable position in one of Carluke's most prestigious addresses...."
So whoever comes to live here wants to make sure no unwanted people enter their world.
I first saw these gated developments in the United States some years ago and they kind of made me sad. It's like going back to medieval castles: or even an admission, somehow, that community no longer exists. How many of you remember a time not so long ago when you didn't even lock your front door?
It also reminded me of these words of Edwin Markham:
He drew a circle that shut me out
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took him in.

There are far too many walls, barriers, gates and security fences in our world.
We need more bridges bringing people together

Well tonight... there is one less gate!

Today I met a very interesting man with a remarkable story to tell, but I'll have to share it with you at a later date. Right now I need to think of something to say at a High School Assembly tomorrow morning.

Knock down walls and build bridges instead

Now here's a piece of engineering that seriously impresses me!
It's the world famous Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
(Someone with a name like that had to turn out to be pretty special, don't you think?)
And he was only 24 years old when he designed it!
I visited the bridge in August last year and I just thought it quite amazing.

I've always had a bit of a fascination with bridges, in spite of my fear of heights- or maybe because of it?
Even the simplest and roughest of bridges seems to me to be a testament to the human spirit, the unwillingness to allow an obstacle to get in the way and hinder progress.
While most (if not all) other animals adapt to fit their environment, we human beings do our best to make the environment fit us. It's an instinct and talent that may well be our undoing, of course, if we succeed only in destroying the environment. We need to temper our ambition with a considerable amount of humility and learn to live in harmony with the planet.
That said, I still get a thrill out of seeing a magnificent example like this of technological bravery and skill.
There's another reason I like bridges. They seem to me to symbolise the task that Christians ought to be performing in the world. I say ought to, not with any presumption that we actually manage to do it very often. In fact, more often than not we only succeed in building walls that divide rather than bridges that bring together. But it is our task all the same: to knock down dividing walls and build connecting bridges.
It's no wonder that Brunel's design for spanning the Avon Gorge won the competition. It would have won it on looks alone, but the real beauty of it is what you don't see- the construction of the abutments that sustain the main piers. The secret of any strong bridge of course lies in the stability, strength and safety of the parts that bear the load.
It's true of relationships too. You have to be quite secure in yourself to reach out to others and build bridges. Wall building, on the other hand, is almost always a sign of insecurity. Just think of the "security fence" dividing Israel/Palestine just now for example.