Fracture Critical

I stopped to watch a show last night called Inspector America on the History Channel. It is based around the crusader, Timothy Galarnyk, an infrastructure safety inspector with over 35 years of experience. He asserts that if America doesn't pay attention to it's aging infrastructure (bridges, dams, tunnels, sewers, railways, roadways, etc.) and make necessary repairs, we are headed for trouble. Over the decades, the infrastructure that helped our country grow hasn't kept up with the times. Galarnyk wants to see some changes.

Galarnyk mentioned the term "fracture critical" in the show last night. He pointed out some startling examples of rusted steel and crumbling cement pilings on the still-used, severely degraded Stillwater Lift Bridge in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. The basic definition of the term "fracture critical" is that if one critical area of the bridge's support system were to fail, the whole thing would certainly collapse. Just four years ago, an Interstate 35W highway bridge in downtown Minneapolis loaded with rush-hour traffic dropped more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River, sending at least 50 vehicles and passengers into the water and ultimately taking the lives of 13 people. Galarnyk wants to avoid this happening to anyone else again.

How many areas of our lives are "fracture critical?" Last year my life was shaken as I learned of a personal, two-year bout with high blood pressure that caused irreversible heart damage; I didn't even know I had it until I visited the doctor with severe headaches. I had to make some big changes. Maybe a relationship, a job, or a life-style is "fracture critical" and we don't even know it. Many times, like in the case of the Stillwater Bridge, we re-pave the road, making it look new, but under the roadway there are cracks, holes and erosion that threaten eminent danger.

Proverbs 4:20-27 (New International Version, ©2011)

20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the[a] paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

The good news is that if we learn of the areas that are failing and we take steps to repair the damage, we can start anew. The problem with our broken lives is that we cannot make the repairs alone. Maybe a doctor, therapist or a health professional can guide us back to health. But ultimately God, the Creator and Sustainer of our lives, can make the most important changes. Our hearts are the wellspring of our lives and we cannot live up to our potential without His saving grace and regeneration.

In this Easter season, it would be good to make an inspection to see if there is any threat of "fracture critical" areas in our lives. God wants to make you strong, just ask Him.