August 11
Solid Ground
From San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge, past the sheer cliffs of Big Sur to the sun-drenched beaches of Southern California, the views along the 644 miles of Highway 1 are breathtaking. The views of the Pacific crashing against the shore compete with the rugged beauty of the mountains, forests and gentle hills of California’s Central Coast. No wonder economists estimate that the Highway brings several billion dollars in tourism to the state every year.
Beautiful? Absolutely. No wonder engineers have found a way to take the road where no road was meant to go—across protected wetlands, over deep arroyos, and through active landslide areas, not to mention the earthquake faults. Highway 1 is in a constant struggle to survive. Cal Trans (California Department of Transportation) is constantly rebuilding the road after the adjacent mountain slides into the ocean, taking chunks of the Highway with it.
Since I live less than a mile from Highway 1, I’m grateful for the work Cal Trans does. I even understand why they exert the effort. If a mudslide takes the road out, they can always rebuild it. But what I don’t understand is why people would build their homes in areas that have constant mudslides. Replacing a section of road is one thing, but a home is another. Homes are filled with memories, irreplaceable keepsakes and our loved ones. Nothing is worth jeopardizing the safety of loved ones.
Wisdom dictates that builders choose a solid surface, not a shifting one for a building’s foundation. To know the importance of a solid foundation and still choose a shifting one is foolish, and will result in destruction.
“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17 NIV)
Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).
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