At the corner of East 179th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, there stand two fire hydrants. On one corner, standing in cracked concrete, is an old hydrant, faded and rusty. Litter and weeds crowd around its base, all but obscuring a black band painted around its middle.

On the opposite corner there is a newer hydrant. The concrete is whole and solid. The paint is fresh. And when disaster strikes, the fire fighters will attach their hoses to it, rather than its forlorn-looking cousin across the way. For deep underneath the street, the hydrant with the faded paint and the black band is connected to broken, empty pipes. (1) I thought of that broken hydrant when I read these words from the prophet Jeremiah:

Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh …