L is for LADDER

We had three ladders at home. The longest could reach to near the top of the tallest building on the farm, which was our hay shed, but it was a precarious climb, not for the faint-hearted and the delicate appearance of the structure coupled with the concrete yard below meant that while the heart was willing, the flesh was weak. It was a wooden ladder, more used to being rested against an apple tree and time had not been kind with several rungs now missing near one end and its aging wood now stained by an explosion of colours that had dripped from paint brushes during one of its alternative jobs. And there was something disconcerting about the foot long piece of timber nailed to one side to strengthen where a large crack had now appeared. And yet it provided endless hours of fun, not in the vertical role for which it was intended, but when draped horizontally across an old tar barrel, as a more than adequate seesaw.There were, however, one or two minor drawbacks. Sometimes, the barrel, being circular, had an inclination to roll in rhythm with the rising and falling, causing the ladder to regularly alter its central position, although a couple of strategically placed cement blocks went some way to solving this problem. Though a much greater source of worry and painful discomfort where the scalps of wood that often embedded themselves deep in uncovered legs and other more sensitive areas. But by far the greatest crisis was when there was nobody to sit on the other end of the hastily constructed fairground attraction and the fun stopped before it had begun.

The other two ladders, both wooden and altogether more sturdy in build, were much shorter, but when fitted together as their creator intended, formed a safer and ultimately longer climb. The metal clasps which secured their union and the steel reinforcements under many of the rungs meant that only a fear of heights could deter prospective climbers. Now, they all lie redundant and frown at the bright, shiny and ultra-light aluminium pair that are preferred for the most menial of tasks. I have climbed all of them and my level of carefulness certainly increases as I move higher, though I always dread the rare moments when someone steps on to the rungs below my perch.

And isn't that how God has intended we live for him, not as individuals but joined together as part of the body of believers, with his arms of love and authority firmly clasped around us, and us in obedience to his direction. And when circumstances change, he finds a new use for our talents in another field.

But a simple warning to us all. It is easier to pull someone down a ladder than to pull them up. Let us not allow Satan to get a foothold on even the lowest rung of our lives or we may never reach the top. And I hear the view is worth seeing. 'To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.' (Jude 1v24)