Stop And Stair

The "Miraculous Stairs" housed in the Chapel of San Loretto in Santa Fe, New Mexico, have an interesting history.

The chapel was built in 1873 to serve an all-girl academy operated by nuns of the Sisters of Loretto. Only after the building was completed did anyone realize that it lacked a stairwell to the choir loft that spanned the rear of the nave. Workmen had used a ladder, but that seemed undignified to the sisters, and a traditional set of stairs would have taken up too much space, necessitating the removal of many different seats.

Into the midst of this quandary came an old man leading a donkey laden with wood. Obtaining permission from the Sister Superior, he set to work, reportedly using only a hammer, saw, and T-square. Then he disappeared, without asking for payment.

In the chapel the women found a 33-step staircase, constructed in two tight, 360-degree spirals; a design so economical that almost no seating was lost. The most amazing thing was its bolster: there wasn't one! Architects say the steps should have collapsed the first time that they were used. They did not collapse the first time, nor the second, nor over all these years.

Those steps, however, are not a miracle; they are only an illustration of the daily miracle of the Christian life.

If we span the gap between Heaven and earth, executing the double-turn of emphatic repentance, it is only by the grace of God. According to earthly reason, we stand, like a shiftless relative, with no visible means of support. According to the world, God's church should have collapsed the first time it felt the pressure of persecution or even of ministry. But it did not fall the first time, nor the second, nor for two thousand years.

How will we live godly in such a fallen world? How will we ever be able to raise godly children? Don't worry! Though we look completely vulnerable to the unknowing world, we stand fast, the miraculous work of the Master Carpenter from Nazareth and Eternity (Eph. 2:8-10; Phil.1 :6)!

And why does a staircase exist? To help people ascend! We speak of certain people as being the "pillars of the church", but I much prefer staircases, even though they tend to get stepped on, and become scuffed and worn, because they help people to be edified in their faith. If you are still stuck at ground level, may we invite you to climb, to keep pressing on the upward way (Heb.6:1)?

Stop And Stair,
Pastor David Blevins