As I walked off the elevator onto the fourth floor I was a little taken aback by the walls. Where there had once been a brightly colored, open waiting room full of pictures and engaging images, now stood a giant wall. I don’t like walls. Especially in a place that you don’t really want to be in the first place. As I made my way down the now enclosed hallway I found the appropriate door I was supposed to enter through. I stood. I waited. I listened as one patient was trying to coordinate an appointment for another department, and another making sure their follow up date and time was right. And as I stood there with Teag’s in my arms wondering if she was going to bite my arm or just leave her teeth there just in case, I saw yet again, more walls. Everyone was masked and plastic partitions separated the front desk staff from those of us in the lobby. And for a split second I became very overwhelmed by the weight of all that was surrounding me.
The walls are everywhere right now. I feel like everywhere I turn I am faced with the reality of just one more thing hindering the connections, that in many ways define our humanity. Then it was our turn. Name, date of birth. Insurance verification, physician verification. Business was attended to. Then a “How is your day going?” How was my day going? The traditional southern upbringing calls for a, “just fine.” And while that was true today I responded with, “You know, we really are doing ok today.” And we are…… we are ok. And as quickly as I was overwhelmed by more walls, I was struck by the humanity of that moment.
Right now the walls are everywhere. Both physical and emotional. Walls created by covid, walls of protestors, walls of police, walls in our check out lines, walls at our schools, walls of water, walls of pain, walls of fear. Walls. And I pray I never get used to them. As I was sitting in that office, however disheartened in the immediate I had the sweet reminder that our humanity does not have to be defined by walls. If you travel to what was once the meeting of East and West Berlin across from Saint Thomas Church you will find a building beset between two trees. “Baumhaus” as Berliner’s affectionately call it was the only home built along the Berlin Wall during the city’s separation. In the begins of its existence this “treehouse” built by a Turkish Immigrant caused conflict with soldiers in both the east and the West. No one really knew what to do with someone who chose to create and build in a time where division was the name of the game. There was a house, a garden, and no attempts at escape or to create conflict. Simply a beautiful attempt to satisfy basic human need. And as time passed a mutual appreciation was shared between the man and the GDR whose job was to separate him from his fellow countrymen.
Amidst dissension and turmoil and chaos beauty was found along the border of what to many was a symbol of oppression and terror.
There can still be beauty amidst atrocities and hope amidst fear. Even in what may feel like the worst of moments gardens can emerge and humanity can thrive. I am not saying we should not fight for freedom, liberties, safety, and security, but sometimes with so many voices screaming no one gets heard. But what if I try to build along the wall. Choose to look past the walls and see the people and lives on the other side of them. This will not be the last time monumental change will be felt in my life or this country or the world, and I can not even begin to anticipate what the future holds. But I can start planting gardens at the walls edge, and maybe provide some hope for others to see fear does not define our humanity. We can not let it. We have to be brave enough to find ways to create beauty in ashes and hope in hardship. That courage doesn’t always mean you are the loudest in the room, but the one who finds a different way. Who walks a path less traveled and trusts that fear does not mean hope doesn’t exist. So this week when the weight of it all feels too much to bear, I challenge you to stop, breath and reach for the beauty beyond the walls. Stop and find a way to bear the burdens around you differently and let the Lord use you to be a treehouse amidst walls of chaos.
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