The Fence

Somewhere, burning beneath an unforgiving desert sun, one can find a simple remote neighborhood out in the middle of nowhere. In the corner of one backyard stands a seemingly ordinary fence. It barriers the other bordering yards as it should. And to anyone else, to the current owners, there is likely little or no thought of its history. It is just a worn fence.

Closer investigation, however, reveals one slat with hinges and a lock in the corner of the yard, allowing it to swing open like a door into an adjacent backyard. The slat is unassuming, unprejudiced. Hey, it’s a fence slat. Who cares? But why would a small fence slat have hinges on it?

More than thirty years later from the fence’s installation, during a vacation visit, I stood staring at this same slat from the opposite, cornering yard that the slat would swing into (I know the owners). I peered over into my childhood backyard and, surprisingly, filled with emotion.

Years of experiences and stories came flooding back. This lone, boring, wood slat bore a symbolic representation of my childhood. It triggered remembrance of numerous chapters in my upbringing. It embodied the symbolism of two families woven together in lasting friendship over the years.

My dad installed it ages ago so my siblings and I could more easily pass through into the neighboring family’s yard to play with our good friends. Friendships that continue to this day; since I was 5 years old.

Objects, like this unassuming fence slat, carry and embody stories and history. A rock, a tree, a car, a book. It could be anything. For one individual they are simply objects. To another perhaps they bear a much deeper significance.

And so it is with people. We see others, like this fence, and commonly think nothing of it. We are dis-attached. We come in all kinds of styles, shapes, appearances, and personalities. But how often do we look at someone and sincerely think, “Who are you, really? Where do you come from? What’s your story?” Imperfect as we all are, do we try to see another as God sees them, as one of his beloved children?

If anyone has been online, followed politics, or seen the news lately, one might have noticed a lot of negativity and contention. Have we really become so disconnected and lost that “Human” element so much in the way we interact with one another? We can do better, and many do, but sometimes we forget.

We are all people. Different. Unique. Capable. Etc.. And yet we are similar in so many ways. We can connect to each other positively, if we try. If we can take a breath, take a step back, calm down, and try to put ourselves in another person’s shoes, perhaps we might just begin to see people with a different perspective. And then treat them differently, in a better way. Perhaps we might begin to treat each other with more respect and understanding.

We each have our “fence slats” in life. Things that impact us and exist as meaningful symbols. And like that old fence slat, we can discover the hidden stories around us only when we look deeper. Stories that can help connect us and help us remember the human element in our interactions. In so doing, we can also discover that an ordinary fence slat, and certainly people, may not be so ordinary after all.