In between the Open Roads of our lives there are these connectors that span over the empty spaces where roads cannot be laid for one reason or another. They are called Bridges.
You should know right now that I am terrified of bridges… going over bridges. I like to look at them and think about them in old black and white movies but when I am going
over one – usually in a car I grab the seat and close my eyes and try not to hyperventilate. Oh, and I pray. I take multiple steps backwards in my UU faith and I make deals with God … it is quite funny to my family. Bob is like, just close your eyes and we’ll be over it soon. The kids says mom, breathe. And if I’m driving they say, Mom you’re driving remember – you can’t close your eyes,,, just breathe…. And then to each other they say, Make sure mom doesn’t close her eyes.
So, it has been quite the adventure for me to think about bridges this month but as I was thinking about the words to this hymn of the month and my relationships with the world around me I thought the concept was quite fortuitous for me to take on.
Love makes a bridge from heart to heart and hand to hand
Love finds a way when laws are blind and freedom banned.
Think about the connection we make in a room of people when we join our hands all around. I can’t reach the back of the room by myself but if I join my hands with you and you join your hands with him and you join your hands with her and you and you and you and you …. We are connected like a beam bridge plank that reaches out to cross a space between two points, between two people. Something is separating us but easily conquered. I think of that quick hand shake that high five that shoulder pat like an olive branch extending out to make a connection so that energy passes from one of us to another and we BOTH get over whatever space divided us just a second ago. I like the idea of how I can be connected to everyone in a room that way.
Lydia Patrick
