I Reluctantly Appreciate Engineers
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
Engineers are the bane of my existence. They turn a 10-minute meeting into a two-hour marathon. They question every minute detail. Yet, I respect engineers because they can look at every issue from various perspectives and enhance our decision-making. God knows we need people who can improve our quality of life.
An ancient example of engineering improvement is the ancient city of Catalhoyuk in Turkey. In the mornings, when I am on the Treadmill, I listen to a lecture from The Great Courses. The course I am presently studying is “The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World” by Colgate University professor Dr. Robert Garland. Dr. Garland tells the story of the fantastic city of Catalhoyuk, which was founded sometime between 9,000 and 7,500 BCE. This city had between 7,000 and 10,000 inhabitants. I found it shocking that while these ancient peoples had invented city dwellings, they hadn’t yet invented streets or doors.
All the homes were connected. If you lived in the center of the city, for example, you had to walk through everyone else’s home or up a ladder and on their roof to the next roof until you made it to your dwelling. The residents of Catalhoyuk were thrilled with the earliest engineers stepped forward and designed streets and wood doors for privacy and ease of movement.
I tell the story of Catalhoyuk not to applaud Engineers (they remain the bane of my existence) instead, I tell the story to offer an example to remind myself and you that change should be accepted and encouraged. Many of us in the Christian Church treat change like how I treat engineers, like an imposition. Yet, like engineers, change can create a new and better way of living and expressing our faith. Rather than turn our nose up and any potential change, perhaps, (and it curdles my stomach to say so), we should embrace our inner engineer and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us toward change that will continue to transform our world.