The Job of Building Bridges

There is a story about two unmarried sisters who had such a bitter fight that they stopped speaking to each other. Unable or unwilling to leave their small home, they continued to use the same rooms and sleep in the same bedroom. A chalk line divided the sleeping area into two halves. In fact, the chalk line divided rooms so that both sisters could come and go and get her own meals without trespassing on their sister’s space. In the black of night, each could hear the breathing and snoring of the other. For years they coexisted in silence. Neither was willing to take the first step to reconciliation.

Then one night one sister got up to go to the bathroom and fell, breaking her hip. The other sister heard the fall and scream and woke up. She jumped out of bed crossed the chalk line and came to her sister’s side. After a few typical sister jabs at why she would do such a foolish thing as trip on her own feet, the sister held her foe until the paramedics came and carried her to the hospital. In those moments of darkness, the truth and power of love revealed itself.

The late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall once told this story with these words. “The legal system can force open doors, and sometimes even knock down walls, but it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me.”

Let us pray: Gracious God, we thank you for your unconditional love and forgiveness of us. Help us to share those same gifts with the people around us – friends, family, neighbors. May we be the first to build bridges – the first offer forgiveness, and the first to seek reconciliation – for we remember that life is short, and we don’t have forever. We ask all of this in the name of Christ. Amen.