Unity

Work As A Unifying Force

Utah was home to another “golden spike” moment last night as we finished the rail fence surrounding our home after two and a half years of difficult labor.  We had to dig 180 holes, sink 100-pound railroad ties three feet into the ground, and then attach over 1,000 lodge poles to fence in three acres of land.  I must admit to feeling a tremendous sense of accomplishment that it is finally done. It is the first thing I have ever personally built from the ground up and it was a total family effort.

Over 150 years ago, Promontory Utah was the sight of the famous event when the nation was first linked east to west by a railroad.  A golden spike was driven into the final rail, and a single word was sent by telegraph across the country, “Done.”  Inscribed on the side of the spike are the words “May God continue the unity of our country as this railroad unites the two great oceans of the world.”  Isn’t it ironic that while the railroad was considered a great unifying force for our country, yet our modern-day information superhighway has to some extent become a divisive and polarizing force? 

Former soccer star David Beckham said, “The secret of a team’s success is easy – unity and hard work.”   That has certainly been true for our family working on this fence.  It is not very straight, and it probably would have made more sense to have had an expert built it, but it has been a wonderfully unifying event for our family.  Now we need to find another challenging work project to keep us from dissolving into warring factions.