Consider the brick...

My great-great-grandfather, Thomas Davenport, was a potter. He was sent by Brigham Young to Parowan, Utah to not only help settle the area, but to find a high quality of clay for his pottery to supply the needs of the Saints in a growing community.


















My husband, Gerry Henderson, was a Geologist. He also worked with clay. He found high quality clay that could withstand extreme heat to form long-lasting bricks for Interpace Brick Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. He found the clay, mined it and eventually, made bricks that would be used to build our first home in Salt Lake City. This home would keep his growing family safe.



Our Savior, the creator of this world created the clay that can be heated and formed into pottery and bricks. The finished product may go through many, many failures before the right combination of elements would produce a brick or pot strong enough to be useful. He also formed man and said he would be tested and sometimes the heat of those tests would be very, very hot; and sometimes he would crumble and fall apart until the right combination of experiences would produce a stronger man! In the process, our testimonies would grow and we would grow stronger.

Now, consider the brick.

In the hands of some it can be a building block, something that is of great use. On the other hand, in the hands of another it can be a weapon of destruction, thrown at will in order to injure.

I would like to consider a metaphore that I call "The Parable Of The Brick." I would propose that we liken the brick to the gifts we received from our Heavenly Father as part of our earthly inheritance. What will we do with our gifts? Will we bury them in a useless heap? Will we sling them at our enemies (and sometimes our friends)? Or will we use them for their God-given purpose--to build?


And what shall we build? Will we use them to build our homes to shelter our children? Or will we use them to build walls either to keep our families safe or to shut others out?


Or will we use these bricks (gifts) to build bridges to cross over rivers of doubt and misunderstandings. Or build bridges to span gulfs of harsh judgements in order to embrace those we love the most in our lives?


What will you build with your bricks? Walls? Or Bridges? The choice is yours.