Reconstruction
Friends take time in a world of shortcuts, instant coffee, fast foods. Yes, it takes time to make friendships, as it does to cook a special meal for those we love. We’re surrounded by substitutes and instant gratification and we’re offered chemical white stuff to put into instant coffee, and the store shelves are filled with instant cake mixes and instant potatoes. On television we see instant love. But friendship, like all fine things, needs time for ripening. We need to believe in it, know that we are all human creatures who make mistakes, even with (or perhaps especially with) those we love most. We need forbearance and patience and love. ~Madeliene L’Engle
I read a story this past week from writer Sarah Bessey, about her husband who went into the business of home reconstruction. He works with old homes, homes that have been standing for many years and need a lot of work to evolve into a more modern structure. I thought of some of the home repair television shows that I love to watch as she wrote that he really hates those shows—not for the show itself, but for the demolition day montage that typically kick-off the renovation. According to him, these sequences of wild sledgehammers swinging and smashing and tearing apart (despite how satisfying these scenes might be) aren’t really the truth of how an old home demolition happens.
The truth of demolition happens much more slowly, patiently, she writes. First, there is the time spent assessing what is worth keeping, and there’s always something even if it’s only the foundation. Then, the taking apart happens in a way that won’t cause damage to that which can be saved. It’s slow, measured work, thoughtful and full of care for the structure, with a desire to preserve always in mind.
Of course this is a metaphor. Yet, for what exactly?