Heroes Not Zombies

I’m quite a fan of bridges. Many of them are beautiful constructions and I have lots of photos of bridges. I think I like them both as constructions in their own right, and what they facilitate – connections.

When we talk of building bridges between people or communities we are thinking of developing relationships. A bridge functions as a two way connector. It connects one bank of a river to another, an island to the mainland, or even one country to another.

It strikes me we need to do a lot more bridge building in this world. There is so much division. We’ve fractured into multiple groups of “us and them”, on the basis of gender, race, nationality, generation…you name it.

Each of us identifies with others with whom we share certain characteristics, and we gain a strength from that. But we need diversity in nature and in our lives. We need to “integrate” – to form mutually beneficial bonds.

Bridges enable that. Walls and fences separate and divide.

Whilst healthy boundaries and borders are good, we have to be aware of getting trapped into little worlds, narrow worlds, which constrain us and inhibit growth. So, we need the bridges, pathways and gates which let us venture further, to make new friends, discover new ideas, other ways of living.

Here’s to the bridges……let’s build more!