The gray morning is beginning to show signs of life. I can hear the sounds of people stirring around me, doors closings, chairs moving across the floor, and water rushing through the pipes. It is the sound of a hotel moving to the beat of an unknown song.
Outside I look at a project that is perfectly still. The partial floors of a city-block square sized building under construction stall in silent testimony to something that started with grand ambitions. It is large on any scale. The site is also idle. Nothing is moving. There are no materials waiting to be used. The rust on the skeleton is deep dark brown and rain shaped. It is hard to imagine how the ten floors will ever be used.
Both extremes speak to dreams and the outcomes that come with time. When the projects we launched, who imagined what? What happened along the way to shape their destinies? Where do we go from here?
In the center of the picture are the engineers, architects, and construction workings. For some, the reality of the outcome came earlier than they imagined. I wonder if anyone remembers now what was a news event then? Where lives destroyed? Did dreams evaporate?
In a crisis, it is natural to focus on the outcomes someone imagined. Lost goals and broken promises are the subject newspapers document. For many, the lost opportunity of a human endeavor quietly disappears. Whatever lessons were there fades into history. The impact of people, though felt, is left without a response.
There are exceptions. Projects are restarted. People made good come from what was considered a failure. Metaphorically, “everyone made it to shore safely.” (Acts 27.44) People, though hurt, go on to take on new challenges.
Today’s gray will become unique windows of opportunity. I will face decisions about what comes next. Will I move forward or call a halt? Is it time to invest more or let the investment go?
History is waiting for be written. We will tell the next chapter in story with our words and actions.
