Why Wholeness Matters

Wholeness makes a difference. It definitely would have on the night of December 15, 1967 over the Ohio River Valley.

On this fateful night the Silver Bridge, a 2,235 foot two lane eye–bar suspension bridge plummeted in the Ohio River killing 46 individuals and wounding dozens more. Evidently after 39 years of standing strong and offer faithful travel across the river, this bridge without warning, “collapsed like a deck of cards” one onlooker commented. In the wake of the tragedy inspectors took inventory on what went wrong. There finding was astonishing.

There was no major malfunction in the beams. Rather, “The cause of failure". . .read this highlighted portion. . . "was attributed to a cleavage fracture in the lower limb of eye-bar 330 at joint C13N of the north eye-bar suspension chain in the Ohio side span." The fracture was caused from a minute crack formed during the casting of the steel eye-bar!

Over the years, stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue allowed the crack to grow, causing the failure of the entire structure. The issue was simply one of integrity and wholeness. Even though 99% of the bridge might have been good, it was NOT whole, and hence could not stand.

I think our lives are a lot like the Silver Bridge. There are tiny fault lines within. Due to pain, fear and the brokenness of our sin, our natural tendency is to live divided lives. The word integrity literally means whole, complete, integrated. To have integrity means to live our lives in a way that is consistent and without division. In essence, we are the same person no matter who we are with, what hat we are wearing or what pressures we are under.

I have found that both community and solitude are indispensible spiritual disciplines in discovering those areas where I lack integrity. Solitude gives time for soul inspection. During this quiet moments I become aware of those areas where my integrity is lacking. Community allows others to detect weakness within that I don't see myself. In my life, healthy doses of community and solitude have been essential to avoiding disaster.