One of the things on my Bucket List that I’m probably not ever going to do is to visit Machu Picchu. It’s an ancient Inca city that’s about 8,000 feet up on top of a mountain. You have to climb four days and three nights just to get there. But when you get there, what a sight! Machu Pichu also speaks to me about what it takes to build hope into our lives.
I’ve always been amazed at the buildings. Without using iron or even wheels, they carved and moved massive stones all over the place. The stones fit so perfectly together that you can’t even get a piece of paper in between them. I’m lucky if I can even draw a straight line with a ruler.
But more than just building this city on top of a mountain, it’s in an earthquake zone. And on top of all that, it’s in the middle of a rainforest. So, you’d think that earthquakes or the rain would have destroyed the city long ago. And you’d be right except for two thing.
- First, they built strong foundations that go down, deep to the bedrock.
- Second, they also built an amazing drainage system that carried away the rain so it wouldn’t weaken the foundations.
How to Build Hope
Yes, they built Machu Picchu one stone at a time. And when it comes to hope, you built it one stone at a time. One thought at a time. One memory at a time.
There is no such thing as instant hope. Or some immediate fix to a life lived without hope. Hopelessness was made in the fires of a life lived with disappointment. One failure at a time. One overwhelming sadness at a time. One negative comment at a time. One undeserved criticism at a time.
