Monday, November 20, 2023

28 November 2023 - Tuesday of 34th week in Ordinary Time – Luke 21:5-11

     A few years ago, there was a dispute over which was the tallest building in the world.  That distinction of the tallest building had been held by a building in Chicago that most of us have known as the Sears Tower, but is now called the Willis Tower. I remember that my Sunday school teacher in Chicago was one of the construction workers on that building when it was built in the early 1970s, which was big deal in that city. The Sears tower was proclaimed as the tallest building in the world for many years. In 1998, the decorative spires atop the Petronas Towers in Malaysia surpassed the Sears Tower by 33 feet. There is a lot of controversy as to whether to count spires in the height of a building.  Fast forward to today, where Sears Department Store, for which the Sears tower was originally named, does not even exist.  Willis Tower, the former Sears tower, is number 26 on the list of tallest buildings.  The Petronas tower in Malaysia is number 21.  The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is said to be the tallest building. Things change quickly in our modern world, don’t they.  There are two buildings in New York that surpass the height of the Willis tower as well.   

     There is always a lot of pride and bragging rights for a city or country to claim the tallest building. We try to build bigger, better, and taller structures, but ultimately they will be like the Temple in Jerusalem – doomed to fall or doomed to be destroyed. The one eternal aspect of our lives here on earth is our faith. Our faith can last until eternity if we foster it, nurture it, and let it grow. Life will challenge us in many different ways, but our faith will get us through.  May we cling to that hope.  May we endure in our faith.

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