Health, Safety, and Welfare

To become a licensed architect, one must obtain a degree in architecture from an accredited institution prior to enduring a 3 to 4 year internship before qualifying to sit for the architectural registration exam.  When I took the exam back in 1999, it consisted of 9 parts, most of which I passed over the course of +/-12 months.  From there, you’re eligible to obtain your state license to practice as an architect which means you can stamp construction documents and specifications for buildings (over 5,000 square feet) that you either design outright or oversee closely the design therein. 

From day one of starting on this journey, you’re taught that health, safety, and welfare of the public is your underlying goal as an architect, therefore buildings must meet building codes, be structurally sound, etc.  Architects are never tasked with putting their energies into creating structures that hinder or harm.  This goes against the very essence of what it means to be a “master builder” (archi-tect).

In many ways, the journey towards becoming an architect is not unlike the one every boy should make towards manhood with his primary goal being to always consider firstly health, safety, and welfare of those around him.

Men are servants.  Boys are boys.  If you look at Christ as he’s presented in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), he’s the ultimate example of a man via his servitude to everyone he came in contact with.  He demonstrated this through his self-denial, teachings, and understanding of his overarching goal here on Earth. 

But, Christ was 100% God and 100% man.  We’re obviously missing the God part. 

Despite the fact that Christ was a perfect man, he relied heavily on a community of men (disciples) that traveled with him throughout his ministry on Earth.  Of course, much of what’s chronicled in the gospels related to this is him teaching them along the way.  It’s obvious that he could have struck out on his own, but how might his ministry here on Earth been different had he done so?

There’s no doubt that if Christ made community a priority, we should too.  Especially considering how we benefit from being reminded of our role as men.