Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland Blog

Building bridges

Bridge 001

Following on from his service at the 50th anniversary of the Tay Road Bridge, our East of Scotland Organiser Chic Lidstone takes a closer look at bridges in his Workplace Word:

Two brothers who lived on neighbouring farms had a major fallout. A long working partnership quickly fell to pieces and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.
One morning a joiner looking for work appeared at the door of one of the brothers. The farmer was welcoming and immediately said, “I have a job for you. My neighbour’s farm is across that burn and I would like you to build a high fence between us. I don’t want to see him again.” 
The joiner worked hard and was finished by evening and when the farmer came to have a look he was more than surprised: instead of a high fence a bridge had been built! And what’s more his brother was coming across it, his hand outstretched and saying, “You are quite something to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done.”
They turned to see the joiner getting ready to leave. “No, please stay a few days as we have more work for you”, said the brothers. 
The reply came, “I’d love to stay, but I have many more bridges to build.”
Like our own Tay Road Bridge spanning from North Fife to Dundee, a bridge always brings two sides together. 
Are you, or do you try to be a bridge builder, hoping to bring people, lives or communities together? It can be hard work, taken for granted or often go unnoticed until something goes wrong, but that does not mean it’s a waste of time or effort. 
It’s always good to try and listen, respect or even understand the other person’s view, however much you may see things differently. It’s their view and by listening, you respect them and so begin to build that all-important bridge. 
Abraham Lincoln said that he destroyed his enemies by making them his friends.

 
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