Structures: Learning How To Do

I have often wondered if time moves through us -- or -- are we moving through time?  This musing isn't meant to solicit a philosophical or scientific response!  I guess I am just wondering:

What effect do we have on our surroundings?

 -- or -- 

Do our surroundings shape who we are?

Traveling throughout the United States and other countries, I notice the impact that certain buildings have on the town or region.  The main street of a small town, the church and its plaza that attracts people on the weekends, or the decades that its takes to build a cathedral... each affects current and future generations.

Structures: what have you learned from the past?
(Rouen Cathedral, Normandy, France)

If we think about it, many structures express the ingenuity, generosity and spirit of the people in that region.  Our attention is drawn skyward by both the intricate lacework of the Rouen Cathedral and the modern design of the A'DAM Tower.  Past, present, and future converge on monumental buildings that memorialize the vision and skills of their builders.

As flames collapsed the spire and roof of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, there was already talk of rebuilding.  I started googling the history of the cathedral and found that many generations had an impact on the structure we knew before the fire.  The structure evolved over centuries, changed by the needs and dreams of the current generation.

Structures:  how do you see the future?
(A'DAM Tower and A'DAM Lookout, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

What does this mean?  The solid structures we see as anchored in history and unchanging are actually altered and restored by us!  In the small course of one lifetime we can impact and change those around us!

Structures: are you willing to learn something new?

How then do we find ourselves in a climate that is deadlocked?  Maybe the words of Picasso can inspire us to action: 

• Can I learn to do something new?
• Will I accept that others may be trying to learn as well?
• How might we encourage one another?

We are called not to be bystanders in this world.  Instead, as social beings, we are structured to reach out and learn.

May this week begin the process to do that which we cannot do.  May dialogue open the door to share our dreams, creativity, and needs.  And, may we learn to help one another.
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)