❤ Spread love, it's the Brooklyn Way
29 April, 2015
There's really nowhere cooler than Brooklyn. It's paradise for every hipster, gangster, and prep out there, all rolled into one. I mean, it's been music inspiration for everyone from Biggie Smalls to T. Swift to the Beastie Boys... Brooklyn has an aura you can't describe, appealing to just about everybody. Old and rustic, yet lively and urban, with the Brooklyn Bridge signifying the area's magnificence, ya can't beat it. The bridge wasn't always so popular, though. Things were a bit hairy in the beginning...
It was 1883, and the Brooklyn bridge had just finished completion - after 13 long years of construction. It was dubbed the "8th wonder of the world," and people stared at the collosal monument with awe. With its immense granite towers and thick steel cables, it was unlike anything the city, or world for that matter, had ever seen before, serving as the longest suspension bridge ever built (by far). It was the way of the future, proving the revolutionary turn of the century, and it was open and ready for business.
People came in massive numbers to venture across the spectacle from Brooklyn to NYC. Thousands crowded on, paying a penny to walk across the stairway, 5¢ for a horse and rider, and 10¢ for a horse and buggy. The bridge was packed, and city commissioners were pleased.
That is, until about a week after the grand opening. There were 20,000 people on the bridge when a massive rumor was spread saying the bridge would soon collapse. People were deathly afraid (for good reason) and panicked their way off the bridge, killing 12 people via trampling from the disarray and madness. The city was in an uproar, and for weeks afterwards, the bridge was nearly empty.
City officials were heartbroken. They had put over $15 million into the construction, and not a sole was using it. Brainstorming, they had an idea: if they could prove how safe the bridge really was, they'd be able to re-win over the public.
But how? It would have to be something outrageous to get their attention. What could they do?
Right on cue, the Barnum Circus approached the officials, offering all 21 of their elephants to be used as an example of the bridge's safety, including the world-famous jumbo-sized African elephant, fittingly named Jumbo. The city directors were ecstatic: "absolutely!"
On an early morning in May of 1883, elephant Jumbo led a caravan of 21 elephants, 7 camels, and 10 dromedaries across the Brooklyn Bridge, raising their trunks and trumpeting every step of the way.
“To people who looked up from the river at the new bridge, it seemed as if Noah’s Ark were emptying itself over on Long Island,” wrote The New York Times.
The demonstration to prove the safety of the bridge was not only a success, but it drew crowds even larger than the original opening week's numbers. The promotional stunt worked like a charm. It's no wonder the bridge is still a spectacle today.
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As out-there as this analogy may be, this story is kinda like my life. I used to struggle with self-confidence, thinking I wasn't strong enough to do certain things. I'd struggle thinking I wasn't pretty enough or wise enough or outgoing enough for this, that, or the other.
As ladies and gentlemen of faith, we are not living on our own strength. After accepting Christ into our hearts, we become new creations, changed from nobodies into children of God. Asking Him to come into our lives means we are no longer in control, He is.
Story after story after story within the Bible tells tales of how God used broken, confused, downcast people to do His work. Joseph was a slave stuck in prison before becoming the 2nd in command in all of Egypt. Moses was a wanted-murderer banished from the city before becoming (arguably) the greatest figure in the Old Testament. Rahab was a prostitute before capturing the city of Jericho for God's people.
I'm not saying accepting Christ means all our wildest dreams will come true, as much as Joel Osteen wants us to believe that. What I am saying is once Jesus takes the reigns of our lives, our strength to overcome the lies of this world will become as strong as the Brooklyn Bridge.
Becoming a follower of Jesus isn't small potatoes, it's the biggest decision you could ever make. Jesus holds the world on His shoulders, and He would love nothing more than for you to take His hand and follow His path. He'll give you the strength to handle anything set before you, a promise nonbelievers are not given. Jesus not only offers eternal life in Heaven, but He offers a life (here on Earth!) of His infinite strength.
Strength to get over that ex, strength to overcome that addiction, strength to forgive the unforgivable, strength to love your spouse with all you have, strength to serve as a role-model for your niece, strength to give away 10% of your money to those who need it more than you...
The worries of this world are very real until you become a believer. Just as those New Yorkers were scared to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, I once felt insecure about my identity. Accepting Christ allowed me to see that I have nothing to fear.
The Brooklyn Bridge is still a prized asset in NYC, and will remain one for centuries to come. It's held millions of pounds over the last 100 years, still perfectly intact. The strength of Christ is no different, there is nothing He can't hold. He'll take your heavy load, hun, you have no need to fear.
Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:41
