Building versus Eroding

    Perhaps we can compare our lives to things that we have in our bodies, which are not our minds or hearts, but we can be compared to teeth. Lately I have been thinking about how a tooth can be strong, clean, and functional for many years, for decades. Perhaps even the lifetime of the adult?

    Then, many of us are not so lucky with those teeth lasting so long. We have do take measures like implants or root canals. It is possible that the tooth, like my molar when I was 49, had to be removed and receive an artificial implant that should be good until I am buried somewhere, or perhaps cremated, or however I ultimately go. Not to be too morbid, but death happens.

    But before that last hurrah, there is a lot of living to do! Yes! An emphatic yes. YES! Okay, having established the enthusiasm for life over death, let us focus on building versus eroding. A tooth builds enamel, or has ways to stay healthy, which keeps it strong and whole. However, cavities and decay can enter the tooth or the mouth, which means that the tooth corrodes and becomes a useless or at worse, a painful obstacle within the mouth. It has to be removed as it goes bad.

    Are people like this? Some of us build and build our lives, while some whither, and spiral down. Some of us erode? Yikes, that is sad and scary! Some of us do not build up as we go, we do not "prosper" and build our character, our relationships, our families, our finances, but we can slide into less. And less.

    Yeah. We hope to build. And gain.

    May we do so. We need effort, care, and most of us need the grace of God to do so. And some help from others, at times.

    Go forth, and build. Do not shrink back.