Bridges

  

Love the Lord your God with all your heart…; and, Love your neighbor as yourself….Do this and you will live. (Luke 10:27, 28)

 

        The Washington Avenue bridge is long gone. It once spanned the Mississippi River, connecting the University of Minnesota’s main campus with the edge of downtown Minneapolis. For four years (well, nearly five) I parked daily on the west bank and walked across that bridge to and from my classes. The sidewalks on each side of the roadway were wooden planks bolted to a frame. I counted those planks many times, as I did the steel rods that made up the railing.

         Occasionally I would stop in the middle of the bridge just to look at the river, busy with barge traffic or filled with ice, each in its season. Often the howling winds, however, kept me moving, neither counting nor gazing but wanting only to get out of the cold. It was a good old bridge, leading me to a place of discovery and growth and later affording me access to the comforts of home.

        Bridges make it possible for me to get where I want—or need—to be. A plane is a bridge that gets me to Chicago in one hour or to Moscow in twelve. My car is the bridge that gets me to my daughter’s home in twenty minutes or to the grocery store in three. And my phone is a bridge to almost anywhere in the world in a few seconds. Discovery is a bridge to knowledge, language to communication, insight to understanding, and experience (hopefully) to wisdom.

        So bridges are great things…when they work. Just a half-mile north of where the old Washington Avenue bridge once stood, an eight-lane Interstate highway bridge fell into the river several years ago. Thirteen people died. We need our bridges to be strong enough to bear the burden we place upon them.

        The Norwegian Vikings understood the rainbow to be a bridge by which people could pass over to the land of the gods and talk to them. It was a risky passage, however; if an unworthy person tried to cross, they believed, the bridge would give way and that soul be lost forever. No, we need our bridges to be made of sterner stuff. We expect them to carry us safely and without risk.

Jesus taught that love for God and love for neighbor is the bridge to a satisfying life of faith. Love for God is a matter of humble obedience to God’s will, unrelated to our feelings. Likewise, love for neighbors is seen in our actions toward them. To love is to be kind and truthful toward those who come within the circle of our experience; it has nothing to do with whether or not we like them. Love is a strong bridge and a dependable one. It leads even us, unworthy people though we be, home.

        We’re not guaranteed comfort in the crossing, to be sure. Winds of criticism and the chill of rejection may cause us to wish for an easier way. But our passage is safe, our destination sure.

        Love God, love neighbor; take this bridge, Jesus said, and you will live.


Copies of Mike's book, You Are Rich: Finding Faith in Everyday Moments, a collection of 60 similar reflections, can be ordered from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.