Pressure

 

This was the view from the sidewalk in front of my building this morning right after they told us all to go home. A water main had burst around 7am which in turn led to the water being shut off in our building and the air conditioning was going to be shut off as well (and when they're expecting a high of 94 with 80% humidity coupled with a building full of a couple hundred people and no water or restrooms available...well, you get the idea).

Anyway, as I was driving home I thought about how common these water main breaks seem to be here in Kansas City. I think I probably read about or get text alerts for 3-4 of these a week. And then I started wondering what causes these, and if and/or how they could be prevented. So here's what I found are the main causes of water mains breaking:

• Changes in temperature-both extreme cold and extreme heat contribute to pipes breaking
• Pipe material-most pipes that break were made before 1980 with iron (and apparently iron is not a very forgiving material and has a tendency to crack when exposed to temperature changes)
• Corrosion-old pipes are not cement lined and can corrode from both the outside and inside
• Age-failure increases after pipes reach 60
• Human Factors-construction, contractors, homeowners can accidentally hit pipes while working on projects
• Water hammer-this is causes when hydrants are open/closed too quickly

So, what's my point? All of these causes can be summarized in one word-pressure. Both internal and external pressures can weaken the integrity of the pipe and cause it to fail, resulting in costly and time consuming repairs.

They same thing can and often does happen in our lives. We often feel like this:

 

 

We worry about the pressures of work and school and church and marriage and dating and children and parents and money and vacations and temptations and shortcomings and weaknesses and many, many, more...and if we're not careful, we can succumb to these pressures and our personal water main will break, resulting in both temporal and spiritual damage and costly repairs (again in both a spiritual and temporal sense).

So what can we do to prevent pressure from breaking us? We need to replace our old, corroded, temperamental, unforgiving, and weakened pipes filled with temporal water with the eternal, perfect, forgiving, loving, and strong pipes filled with the living water of Jesus Christ. Or, as L. Whitney Clayton explained in the October 2009 General Conference:

Life presses all kinds of burdens on each of us, some light but others relentless and heavy. People struggle every day under burdens that tax their souls. Many of us struggle under such burdens. They can be emotionally or physically ponderous. They can be worrisome, oppressive, and exhausting. And they can continue for years.

In a general sense, our burdens come from three sources. Some burdens are the natural product of the conditions of the world in which we live. Illness, physical disability, hurricanes, and earthquakes come from time to time through no fault of our own. We can prepare for these risks and sometimes we can predict them, but in the natural pattern of life we will all confront some of these challenges.

Other burdens are imposed on us by the misconduct of others. Abuse and addictions can make home anything but a heaven on earth for innocent family members. Sin, incorrect traditions, repression, and crime scatter burdened victims along the pathways of life. Even less-serious misdeeds such as gossip and unkindness can cause others genuine suffering.

Our own mistakes and shortcomings produce many of our problems and can place heavy burdens on our own shoulders. The most onerous burden we impose upon ourselves is the burden of sin. We have all known the remorse and pain which inevitably follow our failure to keep the commandments.

No matter the burdens we face in life as a consequence of natural conditions, the misconduct of others, or our own mistakes and shortcomings, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father, who sent us to earth as part of His eternal plan for our growth and progress. Our unique individual experiences can help us prepare to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last, from heaven’s perspective, for “but a small moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high.” We must do everything we can to bear our burdens “well” for however long our “small moment” carrying them lasts.

That Your Burdens May Be Light-L. Whitney Clayton October 2009 General Conference