NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
JUST GET STARTED
HOW TO MAKE YOUR DENT IN THE UNIVERSE BY NEIL JOSEPHSON
BEGIN WITH THE
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n the fall of 2017, my wife and I went to Italy. I had promised this trip to her in 2009 as a gift for a milestone birthday, so you can safely deduce two things: I do keep my promises… but I am not always the most timely! We spent the month of September seeing incredible things, learning a lot, enjoying some great food and wine and making beautiful memories. We also visited one cathedral that changed the way I look at life. Seriously. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo as many people call it, is found in the city of Florence. It’s a magnificent building but it wasn’t the architecture or the art that made the biggest impact on me, it was the story of how the cathedral came to be. It began with an inspiring vision — to build the largest church in the world. The builders laid the first stone in 1296, even though there was one small problem: the design called for a dome that no one knew how to build. No one had ever built a selfsupporting dome 150 feet in diameter, let alone constructed it on top of octagonal walls 80 metres high. There wasn’t even machinery that could lift the building material to that height! Still the builders got started doing what they knew how to do and built the rest of the church. The dome remained just a dream until 1420 when goldsmith Filippo Brunelleschi devised a plan to construct the dome and finish the church. And that is just what he did, finishing the dome 16 years later. The Duomo was consecrated in 1436 and it
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RESOURCES architect, Lorenzo Ghiberti, still stands magnificently YOU DO HAVE today almost 6 centuries jealous because he was not AND DON’T BE later. Great story, isn’t chosen to build the dome, PARALYZED BY it? But there are also slandered Brunelleschi’s some great principles for WHAT YOU DON’T work and his character and me and for you and for even arranged to have him anyone who wants to make an impact briefly imprisoned in 1434. In spite of on their world. the adversity, the work continued, and the project was completed two years 1. JUST GET STARTED. Begin with the later. resources you do have, and don’t be paralyzed by what you don’t have or 4. MAKE HONOURING GOD THE ULTIMATE GOAL. the questions that are unanswered. We can easily admire Brunelleschi’s The resources and the answers often genius and his indomitable spirit, but we come once we are moving forward. shouldn’t miss the fact that 114 metres The phrase we use around FamilyLife below his magnificent dome lay the Canada is “start where you are and do what reason for his work. The altar. His dome you can”. We can’t always control the completed the church and protected the ultimate fruit of our efforts, but we can focal point of worship for all who would count on this — if we don’t start, there gather there for centuries to come. will never be any fruit. Guaranteed. It’s a magnificent cathedral. But how it 2. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE DESTINATION. came to be is even more inspiring. The Over the 140 long years of building story of the Duomo has helped me think the Duomo, they kept a model of the differently about building greatness — in original design in an alcove as a guide my marriage, my family, my community and an inspiration to keep building. and our country. I hope it does the same When change seems slow and the goal for you. looks impossible, find ways to keep coming back to that vision for your life, your marriage, your ministry, your / NEIL JOSEPHSON is the National Director community, that first inspired you. with FamilyLife Canada.Neil, together with Journal it. Share it with friends. Pray it. his wife Sharol, lead FamilyLife Canada. Neil But don’t lose sight of it. loves to learn, teach and write about anything related to marriage, family and Christian 3. EXPECT SOME DIFFICULTIES. Not everything discipleship. Married since 1978, Neil and went smoothly for Brunelleschi. Cracks Sharol have two great sons, two awesome appeared in the dome in 1429, but he daugther-in-laws and four of the sweetest found a way to repair them. A local grandchildren ever.
