Building Cathedrals

Entering a cathedral brings out a sense of awe and wonder as the sheer scale of the edifice and it's hushed solemn atmosphere, mixed with faint smells of candles and incense overwhelms my senses.  These magnificent structures would have taken up to a century to finish, requiring multiple generations of workmen and craftsmen.  Apprentices who worked with their masters at the start have become masters themselves and trained the apprentices who will someday train the future masters who may see the Cathedral finished.  Our short human lives do not limit the scale of what human imagination can conceive, plan, and execute. 

I sometimes look at parenting as the Cathedral projects accessible to most people.  We are the masters at the start and our children are the apprentices who become masters once they are capable of having their own children. At the start we are heavily involved in their day to day lives, and as they move on to pre-school we let them make their own way a little at a time.  By the time they are in high school we spend even less time with them as they explore the world with their peers.  It is such a privilege to be witness and co-builder with our children, our time with them is ephemeral.  Unless for tragic circumstances, we parents will only be part of their beginning but we can never know how their life story ends. 

At the moment I find it hard to remain a relevant part of their life.  Let me rephrase that - I am attached to the notion that I should be part of their daily lives.  I am not making daily memories with them,  if I'm lucky I get to make fortnightly ones depending on how my work rosters me on.  I'm less of a co-builder and relegated to being witness and occasional companion.

I was involved in their foundation digging, but every day I do not spend time with them, another layer of masonry is being added. When I do see them again, there might be a column or a an arch that wasn't there the last time I saw them, though thankfully still recognisable.  Soon, the bell towers and stained glass windows will be too high for me to reach and they will have to be installed by my former apprentices with the help of the co-builders of their choosing.