
Image Credit: Pexels
Do we build bridges or walls? I suppose it depends on your planned end result. Human connection works as a bridge, bringing together people built on pillars of education, compassion, understanding, and strength. Disconnection is like demolishing a bridge that can destroy such unity or make people retreat.
When I heard about the huge cargo ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge last week, I, along with so many people watched in horror as that bridge which became an artery that this city relied on for nearly 50 years, folded into the Patapsco River like popsicle sticks. An unthinkable tragedy occurred within a few seconds, that took 5 years to build.
The wise build bridges, not walls. There is a cascade of disconnection when we turn our heads and backs to people who may look different from us, but are souls who can unify, uplift, support, and empower. Where there is intentional disconnection and rejection it can be terrifying, toxic, tragic, destructive, and quite polarizing.
BRIDGE BUILDERS
Unsung heroes who diligently build bridges
visions of growth, cultural development,
and spiritual excellence
connections that guide us on an exodus
from chains of separation and bondage
knowing such structures built by warriors
strengthen our understanding of ourselves
introducing us to a new land of emancipation
where others we never met,
join us on future expeditions, exploring the unknown
as new conversations of understanding
are exchanged about where we come from
who others are
and the direction where we are headed
those bridge builders erecting structures
support mechanisms to take us further
as we embark on the new, the learned, the untapped
and pass the torch of wise lessons
to light the pathway before us, and lead those who follow.
©Kym Gordon Moore
Simon & Garfunkel in 1970, released the song, Bridge Over Troubled Water. There was something quite solemn yet so painfully spiritual when I first heard this song. It made me think about how we reach out to people in their time of need, and to be of service when people are suffering. We see such evidence when bridges have been compromised in times of disaster, especially when people are displaced and feel afraid of the unknown.
So even though the Francis Scott Key Bridge came down when it was compromised by the collision that the cargo ship created, people are coming together to build this bridge back. The hole gaping over the Patapsco River is a void that leaves us bewildered but also mobilizes the human spirit. It is mindboggling how one bridge affects the lives of thousands of people and their livelihoods. Yet, such a disaster makes us focus on the immediate future, to devise a plan to build back better and build back in unity. There is no measuring in what we think, but in what we do, together. Be the pathway to build bridges that unite, and not walls that lead to devastating polarization.

Image Credit: ADStorey
Source: Build Your Bridge Over Troubled Waters | From Behind the Pen


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