A prayer for bridges

On this so-called historic day when the American people are determining their future, I am thinking, once again, about bridges. 

On Friday, my husband and I took a gorgeous but windy walk along the Old Man River in Lethbridge. We were in the southern Alberta city to visit his parents, as it was his dad's birthday. While the folks had their afternoon naps, we drove to the river bottom near Fort Whoop Up and enjoyed a nature walk that took us across two vehicular bridges and under the world's highest and longest train trestle bridge (which I have moodled about before).

On the east side of the Old Man, we wound along the paths of the Helen Shuler Nature Reserve, where the trees sheltered us and the sun was warm.

When we were crossing the Highway 3 Bridge, the wind was almost gale force. It was a relief to cross to the west side and see the High Level Bridge from a different perspective, where coulee hills sheltered us.

Our neighbours to the south have been buffeted by some pretty strong winds since their last election four years ago. Today, I am praying for peace, and for their electoral choices to bring about a place of calm from which good decisions can be made for their future and the future of our world as a whole. May the next four years be a time of building bridges between the hearts of all those who live in the United States, that they may work together to create a country that is founded on justice and peace. Only when all its people are cared for will freedom truly be meaningful.

An Election Prayer

Creator Spirit, Great Wind,

you desire neither suffering nor distress

for all that you have made.

Please guide the hearts of the American people

to remember that they are all one in their desire for a great country.

Show kindness to all who love you and follow your will.

Open the doors that have been closed,

raise the voices of those who have been disenfranchised,

be shelter for those who are poor, imprisoned, blinded by prejudice,

or otherwise downtrodden.

Please, help the citizens to bridge their differences. 

Be the Good News of compassion

to guide the United States

and help its people to be Good News for each other.

+Amen.

A bridge to a New Year

Our family took a quick trip to Lethbridge this week to see Lee's parents. One afternoon, we drove to Indian Battle Park at the bottom of the coulees and walked the dog to the train trestle bridge, also known as the High Level Bridge. It's the longest (1.62 km or 5,327 ft 7 1/2 inches -- just over a mile) and highest (95.7 m or 314 ft) trestle bridge in the world. It was a perfect blue sky winter day, and I must admit, it's a pretty impressive structure.

It was a wonderful sunny walk in the calm of the coulees on a rather blustery day, and it got me thinking about how much I appreciate bridges in my life. Not just the ones that get me over a river or traffic, but that help me to reach beyond myself to others.

And here we sit, at the end of an old year, ready to cross into a new one. Will we build bridges of justice and truth, or allow the fears and anxieties of 2016 to keep us unbalanced into the future?

I vote for building bridges of honesty and peace, with strong foundations of tenderness toward those who feel misunderstood and marginalized. If the Canadian Pacific Railway could build a bridge like this one in 1909, I'm sure we can create the kinds of bridges we need for a better world. 

 Going beyond ourselves to reach out to others and working together is the best and only way. So let's do what little we can to bridge the gaps between ourselves, our communities, our countries and our environment for the sake of the world to come in 2017.

I'm a little early, but have a Happy New Year, everyone!