Building a Built

In retirement we elected to buy a small house that still has too much yard to mow and sidewalk/driveway to shovel. We didn’t know about a drainage issue. I suppose it could be called a ranch-style house though it is essentially a double-wide trailer that some of our friends call FEMA-FABulous. After 13 years of being here, there are some definite changes that would be a delight to the eye and also add to the resale value. Most every pastoral move we made brought living in the mess of an update to the parsonage and who wants to do that one more time. Plus, the state of the economy and all the decision-making necessary about who would do the work keeps us in a state of stasis. What do you call a building if it is no longer in the building stage, but has become built?

In the meantime, I have been watching some “educational” TV on the architecture and engineering of massive rebuilds of some public properties around the world. It is absolutely stunning how such massive weight can be constructed in such a way that we see the poetry of form with no real conception of all that goes into the magic of visual art.

As we were leaving our last pastoral assignment the trustees of the building decided on upgrading the parsonage. A major redo of the kitchen meant the moving of plumbing that had previously been in a lowered ceiling. I am still astounded at the plumber who was hired. After the pipes had been exposed, he arrived in the evening after another job and stood and looked. And looked and looked some more. A small piece of paper and pencil came from his rumpled shirt and a few notes jotted. A brief goodbye was exchanged.

The next morning there was a delivery of a load of pipes on the front lawn. Working without seeming to measure anything, old pipes were removed and new ones were rerouted from the ceiling to the wall and around a window. I’ve never seen someone work so slowly, efficiently, and rapidly. Here was an artist whose work will never be public. My jaw still needs to be picked up as the memory returns. What a delight to have taken the opportunity to be present as he worked to improve the flow of water and sewage from the upstairs bathrooms.

Architects, engineers, and plumbers are gift givers. Together we have benefited from their gifts. We are likely not to take advantage of what they have to offer, for it is far easier to sit and type away on an old iPad as a rotating fan moderates the heat. May the next occupiers of this space see its potential to be a base from which to offer their gifts. It is a simple space that can encourage a healthy balance of slow consideration, efficient living, and rapid resolution of bound up paradoxes and outright contradictions.