Love Can Build a Bridge

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to

keep unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were

called to one baptism; one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all...Speaking the

truth in love, we will in all things grow up into God. From God the whole body, joined and held together

by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:2-6, 15, 16

The Bridge Builders Conversation

Inquirer: How do you build a bridge?

Bridge Builder: We don't build bridges the way we used to, you know.

Inquirer: You're assuming I know how they used to do it!

Bridge Builder: Well, they used to just build them a piece at time, but not anymore! Now we truck huge pre-

fabricated hunks of a bridge to the site and eventually weld them together into a bridge.

Reflection

What a graphic picture of relationships in our society! People used to grow up together in small

communities where friendships were built gradually, simply, and naturally....a day at a time. People

actually knew one another - sharing their fears, joys, struggles, losses, and dreams - often from birth to

death. But not anymore!

In today's crowded and mobile society many of us truck huge pre-formed hunks of ourselves from place to

place, then discover the need to somehow weld ourselves to our new neighbors in some sort of bridge to

span our isolation. Previously developed parts of our personalities - attitudes, bents, customs,

temperaments, needs, hopes, perceptions - remain separated from other people. Our wounds are covered,

our dreams guarded. And we are unfamiliar with the techniques required to build modern-day bridges of

friendship. We are even unsure where to begin.

Inquirer: How do they hold all those big pieces together until they can be joined by welding?

Bridge Builder: Have you ever driven down the highway and seen a bridge under construction that looks

like scaffolding all around it? Well, that is called shoring. Shoring is the temporary structure that we build

to hold everything together until it can be welded into place.

Inquirer: What is the shoring that will hold this group together as they strive to build bridges of

collaboration?

Bridge Builder: A listening heart, an open mind, creative energy and the belief that with God's help, all

things are possible.

Sharing

What images came to mind as you read? / What bridges do you see being built today?/ How are you

building bridges? / Where are bridges needing yet to be built?

Adapted from Crossing the Bridge Between You and Me. Lenzkes, Susan.Discovery House Publication, 1994 Scripture INV

I'd gladly walk across the desertWith no shoes upon my feet

To share with you the last biteOf bread I had to eat

I would swim out to save youIn your sea of broken dreams

When all your hopes are sinkin'Let me show you what love means

(Chorus)

Love can build a bridgeBetween your heart and mine

Love can build a bridgeDon't you think it's time?Don't you think it's time?

I would whisper love so loudlyEvery heart could understand

That love and only loveCan join the tribes of man

I would give my heart's desireSo that you might see

The first step is to realizeThat it all begins with you and me

(Repeat Chorus)

When we stand togetherIt's our finest hour

We can do anything, anythingKeep believin' in the power

(Repeat Chorus)

Love and only loveLove and only love

- May we bridge our fears and deal with our reticence, practicing honesty, openess, acceptance,

availablility, and non-judgmental support.

-May we deliberately surround ourselves with God's supportive truth until God's way of loving becomes

more fully our way.

-May we work at building the kind of relationships that enable each of us to share our hopes and fears.

-May we discover the priceless gift of joy that shared laughter can bring to our ministries.

-Nay we conscioiusly do those things that let us be known to others and that, in turn, help us to know and

understand them.

-And may our bridge building bind us together, enriching our shared lives, and uplifting our souls.

Love Can Build a BridgeThe Judds

Blessings