Martin Puryear, Ladder for Booker T. Washington, 1996

“Why do I feel I have to reach, 

believe I have to rise,

When You never said I had to climb

these broken ladders?”

-Selah

While living in Fort Worth, Texas, I visited the Museum of Modern Art and came across a sculpture by Martin Puryear entitled Ladder for Booker T. Washington.  This wooden sculpture seems to rise precariously into infinity, and has been associated with ambition, hierarchy, and the impossibility of reaching the top.

As I gaze at this sculpture, I’m reminded of the life most people choose to live.  We set countless goals for ourselves and chase after a million different dreams.  While this may increase our motivation and bring some level of success, none of us will ever “arrive.”  No wonder Solomon, a man known for his profound wisdom, wrote that “all is vanity!” (Ephesians 1:2).