Be a Bridge
By Steve Gahagen
As the cool haze dissipated during the early morning hours of May 7, 1954, construction began for a five-mile bridge that would link the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. It was quite an achievement since the waters below, called the Mackinac Straits, were previously only served by ferries, often causing travel delays of up to 36 hours. Requiring more than a million steel bolts, 466,300 cubic yards of concrete, 42,000 miles of cable wire, 11,350 workers, and nearly a billion dollars, the engineering feat was finally opened to the public exactly 3 1/2 years later. That’s a lot of trouble to go through for a single bridge. But throughout history, people have done just that.
In late 2022, my wife and I moved to Louisville, Kentucky. If someone had told us a few years ago that this was our destiny, we would have looked at them as if they were out of their mind. It wasn’t on our radar and moving to Kentucky was never a conversation around the dinner table. Life, however, is filled with surprises.
As one enters Louisville from Indiana, you must cross a bridge, one of many that span the Ohio River. When lit at night in various colors, the bridges create a beautiful and welcoming invitation to the city.
Every bridge is designed to span a chasm between ‘here’ and ‘there’. They are designed to connect people from one area to people from another. Built to withstand pressure and constructed to endure force, bridges give us passage to otherwise unreachable destinations. The recent accident that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge is a reminder of just how important bridges can be.
A bridge inspires us. Many bridges have become a romantic destination to ask one of the biggest questions anyone would ever ask: “Will you marry me?” A bridge overcomes an obstacle. Whether symbolizing escapes to new frontiers or the intrinsic connection between old and new, these architectural marvels are captivating. Some seem to defy nature by spanning treacherous waterways or deep canyons.
We are inspired by people like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela who come to mind as people who built bridges of reconciliation.
I would like to think that our organization is a bridge builder. We are bridging caring adults to young people by providing simple, life-giving tools so students will see their value and that they can make a positive difference in the world. We are building bridges between young people and older adults to awaken them to the gift of their stories. We are building bridges between businesses and youth, providing exceptional professional development while at the same time leveraging those investments to serve the needs of young people.
Questions to Consider:
What bridges have you traveled across that have inspired you?
Who has been a bridge builder for you?
How can you leverage your strengths to build bridges for others? What three things could you do this week to build a bridge?