bridge

Being a bridge is an interesting business. You meet all sorts of people, get to see how diverse and plural the world really is. Incorrigibly plural, in the memorable words of Louis MacNeice. But you also get trampled on. And squashed in between. And frequently, not quite fully understood by any of the sides you're trying to bridge (and there may be more than one).

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i remember talking with a friend about the trampling just last year, during one of the outbreaks of inter-ideological squabbling that have been increasing in frequency here in the last few years. And her response (bless her!) was to tell me that i could choose to be a strong steel bridge anchored in an unshakeable faith in God. Such is the power of metaphor. i'd been thinking of a rickety little wooden bridge, or perhaps one of those ugly concrete structures you see almost anywhere that just don't add very much to the landscape and are generally utilitarian without looking too good. Instead, what she had in mind was this...

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And that's a truly beautiful thought.

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