[289 words]
In November of 1847, a civil engineer named Charles Ellet Jr. was commissioned to build a bridge across the Niagara Gorge. As you can imagine the greatest challenge was the start. How could you get the first cable across an 825-foot chasm with 225-foot cliffs on either side?
The solution came from a local ironworker named Theodore Graves Hulett, who suggested a kite-flying contest. A fifteen-year-old boy named Homan Walsh won the $10 cash prize for flying the first kite across the chasm.
The day after that successful flight, a stronger line was attached to that kite string and pulled across. Then an even stronger line. Then a rope. Then a cable consisting of thirty-six strands of ten-gauge wire. The bridge would eventually become the world’s first railway suspension bridge. It would connect two countries, and it was strong enough to support a 170-ton locomotive. And it all started with a single kite string!
“For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).
Some tasks seem at the start to be insurmountable. We can’t see how something so large can be overcome. But never underestimate the value of small things. A small action can lead to more. Too many times we do nothing, thinking a small act is meaningless. Yet action begets action, one step takes you to the next, and success leads to more of the same.
Is there something you are struggling to overcome? Some task that seems too big to overcome? A relationship broken by too big a gulf? A habit that overwhelms you? Start with a small attempt. Even the smallest action can lead to something bigger. It may not be much more than a string but it could build a bridge.
Barry Haynes
Hope church of Christ
Hope, AR