When I was a little boy my family and I lived in a house by a river. The river ran next to the main road and the only way to reach it and our car was to walk across an old wooden swinging bridge. To say the bridge swayed in the wind would be an understatement. In fact, it shook under your feet with each step you took. People not used to it were always scared to walk across it. My family and I, however, with our "bridge legs" knew that the best way to cross was quickly and confidently, not letting every little shake make you nervous. Often times we would have to go and take people by the hand to get them to cross it.
I often think that LOVE is a lot like that old bridge. It certainly can seem scary at first. You’re unsure of your feet when you walk on it. It makes you shake and sway and you are sure that it is going to collapse and hurt you. Yet, with practice as you love more and more, you start to develop "LOVE LEGS." Your steps start to get steadier. You walk more confidently and quickly, not letting every little thing worry you. You trust that the bridge of love will hold your weight and you will get across safely. You even start to go back, take others by the hand and lead them across as well.
Thornton Wilder once wrote, "There is a land of the living and a land of the dead. The bridge is love; the only truth, the only survival." Don’t be afraid to cross that bridge. Don’t stay in the land of the dead. Even if the bridge seems shaky, cross it. Even if you fall get up and keep going. God wants you in the land of the living. God wants you to cross the bridge of love to the side of joy. Keep crossing that bridge until your steps become steady and confident and then take others by the hand and help them to cross it as well.
© Joseph J. Mazzella
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