From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – Some time ago, a roof was leaking and the ceiling was falling down. Weeks of repairs and renovation happened, and all was fixed, better insulated and painted.
In the final report the contractor had to admit that they had never really determined the cause of the leak, but had instead fixed, modified and reinforced a number of possible causes. So the hope was that, with all of the great upgrades, the leak would not happen again.
As you may have guessed, some months later in a heavy rainstorm the roof leaked again. The difference this time though was that, with the new insulation, fresh paint and other work, the water trail was unmistakable whereas before traces of water damage seemed to be everywhere.
A few thoughts come to mind here. We often know that something is not quite right, we are not feeling well, there is a difficulty in our family or a wrinkle in our team at work. And sometimes we set about with all of the fixes that come to mind. Then, there is maybe some change, or at least the joy of finding a pie in the lunchroom trying to lift the mood, but the core problem or leak continues.
I think that a lot can be said of the roof leak story here though. Sure the new fixes did not in fact hold back the rain, but all of that work was not in vain; the repairs and paint made the core problem easier to address.
There is usually a root to any great problem, but it is so hard to find or see, sometimes we do have to just start fixing stuff – improving communication, getting some exercise, repairing a relationship. And sure, it may turn out that the core trouble is still there, but with so much other explored and improved the issue will surface a little more clearly and more easily tackled.
Repairing leaking roofs is hard; they only leak in the rain so during the sunshine you can forget they are there. Tricky problems are also hard to fix; we get busy making plans on our busy days and forget that they are there. In both cases the ceiling tile will drop at some inconvenient time and we will be forced to face the challenge and get to the core of the issue. The effort is worth the work, in both cases.
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