Something That Will Last

(Note: I wrote this several years ago. I had not published it on my blog)

While walking one morning I passed a cement truck and workmen laying a new sidewalk at a home. Memories came flooding in.

Inman Elementary School, 1962. The school bell rings at 2:30 and 200 screaming first through sixth graders run out the doors, heading towards home. Suddenly they all stop, silent, eyes wide, mouths agape. There before them are two large cement trucks, 6 workmen, and 40 yards of freshly laid, smooth-topped sidewalk in front of the school. We all stand for a minute in complete awe and silence. Then, suddenly, 400 little hands grab 200 sticks, and begin to write over 200 names in the sidewalk, destroying the hours of work done by those hard working men. You could hear their groans.

We all want to make a mark in something that will last.

Some build financial empires with their names forever emblazoned on them. Others build great buildings. Others form political dynasties. And others work on families. Scratching our names into something that will last.

But none of it does. It never does. Finances fade, buildings fall, empires tumble, and families end.

Jesus said “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6) He also said that only what we do for others will be known in heaven (Matthew 25).

I was back in Inman several months ago. Not a trace of that sidewalk remains.