My father was a selftaught “handyman”.

His day job was being a letter carrier for the Post Office in Rochester, Minnesota. He didn’t make a ton of money, so he learned how to be resourceful. In the age before YouTube, dad would find guys in the neighborhood who knew how to plumb, do minor repairs and building, and generally fix things around the house.

He would invite them over to show him how to do things and to give him the tricks they had picked up along the way.

Dad excelled in building things from wood. He had an affinity for working with wood and his projects were always solid. In fact, they were so solid that he joked that they would still be standing long after he or the house were reduced to ash.

Dad built things to last – he over engineered them because he didn’t want to have to do the same project twice.

There are lots of folks in the world who have that same mindset – they are trying to build things that last. Some, like the leaders of the Third Reich, attempted to build the new Roman Empire that would last 1000 years – they missed by about 990 years. Others try to become famous (or infamous) so that their names and accomplishments will live on in human memory – most fail to build anything that lasts. There have been lasting events and people, the laws of Hammurabi, the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, the mathematics of Arabian intellects, the plays of Shakespeare, etc., but the opulence of Rome, Athens, Babylon, ancient Egypt are all crumbling to dust.

There is a reason behind what creates things that last.

Author Chuck Palahniuk, in his book entitle, “Choke” observes that, “…The unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because it’s only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. You can change the way people live their lives.

That’s the only lasting thing you can create.”

The blessed assurance that we have as followers of the God of our understanding is that we follow an everlasting deity. God is the same as God has ever been and that stability brings us comfort in our everchanging world. Religious teachings give us a way to change our thinking, to adjust the way we see ourselves and those around us – the way we understand how we fit into the larger whole. Religious teachings also help us change the way we live our lives – in doing that, they help us to do our part to build on what others have left us and continue to make something that lasts.

Judaism is about 5700 years old, Christianity about 2000 years old and Islam about 1400 years old – these are built on beliefs that are able to change the way that people think and the way they interpret the world. They are belief systems that help us to live and work together in ways that build things that cause lasting improvements for the common good. These belief systems continue because they help people’s lives change for the better.

Most people are looking for ways to get involved with something that makes a positive difference in their lives and their world. They want to be part of something larger than themselves that lasts beyond their lives. If you are one of those people, then I invite you to come to a faith community this week. There you will find people living out a belief system that has changed their lives and the lives of those who interact with them. They know they are part of something larger and better and will be happy to help you find your place in building things that last in this part of God’s kingdom. What are you waiting for? Time to get busy working on something that has and will continue to change the world. Blessings for your journey!

The Rev. Albrant is pastor of Mineral and Mount Pleasant United Methodist churches.