by Marilyn Ehle
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“For Christ himself has made peace between us and you by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us.â€?Â
Ephesians 2:14 (Living Bible)
It looms above the lush greenery of the surrounding countryside. Visitors from around the world climb its thousands of timeworn steps. First built over 2,000 years ago, the original purpose of the Great Wall of China was to defend against invading tribes from the north. Today it is a mere rocky symbol of an imperial past.
Another wall, one of more recent memory, remains physically visible only in the small chunks preserved on corner shelves of those for whom it has special meaning or in larger pieces safely ensconced in museums. The Berlin Walls’ foundation has been covered over by modern buildings, brick sidewalks or green lawns. Its original purpose was to restrict access of a beleaguered people from seeing and escaping to a free world.
Walls of brick and stone are doomed to eventually crumble, either from the ravages of time or the unstoppable urge for freedom. But emotional walls between individuals and groups are far more damaging and enduring. Walls of remembered hurts, abuse, prejudice all loom and divide. Where walls exist, conversation is shallow or stilted, indeed is often non-existent. Fear replaces vulnerability. Hearts turn as stony as the rocks in the walls of China and Berlin.
Only one force is strong enough to collapse these dividing walls. Only when we submit our wills to Jesus Christ, the One who died to purchase our freedom, can we begin to live without the walls we believe so necessary for protection.
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