Yesterday we helped make bricks for a house. Step one was to use a pick axe and chop up the existing ground. The ground is dry and hard, and composed of mostly clay. Step two is to chop the clumps up as fine as possible and add water. Step three is to add in pine straw, mixing it thoroughly. Step four is to keep mixing, keep wetting it to keep it the right consistency- (essentially the part the cement truck does). Step five is to shovel the mixture into the wheelbarrow, or move it to the location where the bricks can dry. Step six is to pack the mixture into the brick molds, smooth out the top, and remove the mold. The bricks are then left for two or three days to harden and dry in the sun, before they can be moved or used to build a wall.
It was a really cool process to be a part of, especially because they are building the house on the exact ground that the original clay is taken from. It was a lot of hard work. I am very tired, and will be very sore tomorrow. It took us 5 hours for 10 of us to make 135 bricks, and they need 1000.
To your average construction contractor in the United States, where we have factories and corporations that make bricks and distribute them easily to virtually any building site, this may seem like an inefficient and tedious task. But to a man that lives on a narrow hillside 10 miles outside a small Honduran town, on a single lane dirt road that is barely travelable via high clearance/4 wheel drive vehicles, there isn’t even really any other thought. He may not know anything else.
I pride myself in being able to see different points of view fairly easily. Putting things into perspective is a daily hobby of mine, you might say. However, in these past couple months there is something that I have really been struggling to see and accept. And it is the necessity of the surface level relationship. Like the American contractor, I only see what I desire. When I first meet someone I want to see how I can help them in the long run and/or how they can help me. I have seen what deep and meaningful relationships can be, and I know that I want it. I want to get in and get the house (of relationship) built ASAP. So why do we have to bother with the inefficient and tedious small talk? It is hard work, and it takes forever to get to the final production. I look at what I think should or could be, instead of what is.
We meet new people every month. We don’t always have the same resources, we interact and work differently, we are literally cultured and built from different materials, and, for the most part, a month is not a long enough to get to that deeper level of relationship- one where we single handedly build a house. That is really extremely frustrating to me. A lot of times I feel like time and effort is wasted. I don’t get to see the results, I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything, helped with anything, or benefited anyone.
But the thing is, it’s not my house to build, and the profit isn’t mine either. I also won’t see the completion until Christ returns, and all sin and imperfection is removed. That is the house of relationship that I need to learn to look to.
My devotional from “Jesus Calling” (Sarah Young) for this morning:
Save your best striving for seeking my face. I am constantly communicating with you. To find me and hear my voice, you must seek me above all else. Anything that you desire more than me becomes an idol. When you are determined to get your own way, you blot me out of your consciousness. Instead of single-mindedly pursuing some goal, talk with me about it. Let the light of my presence shine on this pursuit so that you can see it from my perspective. If the goal fits into my plans for you, I will help you reach it. If it is contrary to my will for you, I will gradually change the desire of your heart. Seek me first and foremost; then the rest of your life will fall into place, piece by piece.
