There has been a considerable amount of work done on our historic church building over the last two years. The final bit of work, prior to a fresh coat of paint, is the steeple, which needed new siding and a new roof. Unfortunately, as can happen with a wooden structure that is 140 years old, once the work crew got up to the steeple and started peeling away the exterior layers, termites started flying around and the damage that they had done to some of the supporting timbers became evident. What was thought to be essentially a cosmetic update is now a structural reconstruction. Fortunately, it appears to be limited to the steeple, but there will be a rather diligent inspection of the broader roof structure to see if there is damage that wasn’t apparent when that portion was re-done in 2017 in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
It would have been easy to have missed this damage, facilitating what would have been a rather spectacular collapse at some point in the future. If the church hadn’t rented a lift and then hired a crew to do the work, no one would have gotten close enough to the problem areas to see them. Even someone standing up in the belfry may have been oblivious to the extent of the damage above them. It took the right equipment with the right people to provide the proper perspective that correctly assessed the true condition that needed to be treated. Now there is a path forward, and with just a few more days of work and some additional lumber, the steeple should be strong enough to stand for another century.
It seems to be more and more common that we have underlying damage that we are unable to see from our normal vantage points. Whether we lack the proper tools or the proper skills and experiences, we don’t know how to reach the proper perspective that will allow for the true scope of what ails us to be revealed. And without understanding the fundamental issues, we can never hope to do anything beyond making cosmetic changes that will inevitably fail. What we desperately need in our lives are people who we have granted permission to look us over, seeing what we either cannot or do not want to see, and then telling us in love about our vulnerabilities.
Proverbs 12:15 declares: “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Just in case anyone wonders if a book written at least 2,000 years ago has any relevance to our lives today, I think this one proverb demonstrates that it does. We have always needed that wisdom, individually and collectively, to be the best that we can be. Sometimes the only one who can see that we have problems inside of us is someone who can bring a different perspective. So, for the sake of those termite colonies that might be feasting beyond your view, seek the wisdom of others.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron