Some projects are worth some extra time and attention. Take, for instance, the recent renovation of the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Here's how a recent report described the restoration project: "The original construction lasted 20 years from cornerstone to the dedication in 1878—a mayfly's lifespan in cathedral-building terms.

The current restoration took another nine. More than 150 workers, directed by the architecture firm Murphy Burnham & Buttrick, made 30,000 separate interventions, planned and tracked with advanced software but executed by hand. Workers filled the interior with a city of scaffolding. Specialists climbed it to heal cracks in stained glass, fix shattered bits of tracery with invisible puzzle pieces of steel, scour soot off blackened marble, rebuild eroded filigree, replace crumbling stones, replaster ribbed vaults, and revivify wooden screens … The most impressive tasks aren't even visible: replacing the entire cooling and heating system and hooking them up to geothermal wells that have been sunk up to 2,200 feet below Manhattan's asphalt crust." The artistry, the expertise, the craftsmanship are all top-notch.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Keep that image in mind the next time you think of another great restoration project—you and me and the entire cosmos—undertaken by the artist Jesus who promised to make all things new (Rev. 21:5)

Source:

Justin Davidson, “What We Can Learn From the Restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral,” Intelligencer (9-11-15)