The most popular Candler hangout spots these days are the 3rd through 5th floor lobbies looking down onto the construction site below. Every day without fail you can find a combination of faculty, students, and staff huddled around the window looking down into the site completely mesmerized by the process occurring in front them. There is something about watching a building being torn down and another one being erected that fascinates the human imagination. So much goes into the process of construction—destroying the old, clearing the site, pouring the foundation, anchoring the supports, building the new. It literally takes a village of workers to make the whole process occur. To theological minds, there is so much that you can do with this analogy.
Like my colleagues, all summer long I have been enthralled by the work of construction occurring around me. As the 2013 Candler Orientation Coordinator, I have found it interesting how similar the process of planning Orientation has been to the process of construction occurring below. With Orientation, you have to dissect the project into smaller manageable pieces, clear away those pieces that no longer belong and begin to build a new foundation for what is yet to come. It takes work—lots of work! And, the process could not occur without the help of countless people.
Reflecting back over the journey, on the eve of Orientation, I have come to realize that there are several lessons that I have gained from this experience. First, the process of constructing anything of substance, whether it be a building, an event or one’s own spiritual foundation, can be REAL MESSY. In the in-between stages of tearing down the old and erecting the new you have to be willing to get dirty. It is hard to do any real work without being willing to dig deep and entrench one’s hands in the dirt. The dirt, while it may not be pleasant to deal with, is a necessary part of the journey. The process can also feel REAL CHAOTIC with so much activity happening on the site all at one time. With the drilling, digging, hammering, and lifting it sometimes feels like there is more disorder than order occurring. But, the chaos only feels like disorder to those who are not aware of the builder’s plan. If you are willing to stick through the process to the end you will quickly discover that the chaos is actually organized and is heading somewhere. Construction also involves REAL TRANSFORMATION. It’s amazing how with a little help something old can be transformed into something brand new. It’s difficult to remain static when there is change occurring all around you.
The Orientation team chose the theme, “Under Construction: Tearing Down and Building Up,” for all of these reasons. It’s our hope that as incoming students embark upon this new journey that they will be willing to participate in the process of construction occurring within themselves. Theological education involves a lot of tearing down and building up. It can definitely feel real messy and chaotic sometimes. But, the beauty of the entire process is that if you stick with it to the end you can build something substantial.