Our Supreme Court Building is fake. Well, not the whole building. Just the front. If you watch a news report in front of the building these days, you may notice the pillars billowing in the wind. Yes. Billowing.

That is because the entire facade is getting a face lift. The marble is being restored with delicate laser treatments like a lady having her age spots removed at a spa. But here is the interesting part: While this treatment is going on, workmen have unfurled a piece of gigantic fabric, called a scrim. Printed on this fabric is a high-definition photo of the actual building.

So, when you are touring Washington D.C. and looking at landmarks, you won’t see ugly scaffolding around one of our most impressive buildings. In fact, from the tour bus, you might not even realize it is fake. Unless there is a breeze. Then the pillars billow.

The illusion is amazing. You can see pictures of it on the website of the photographer who took the original picture.

I am fascinated by this project and all the effort that has gone into it. And I’m struck by how much the process resembles life. I am constantly undergoing some shoring up, tearing down, or scaling away in my life. But the Architect is kind and compassionate. He rarely exposes the bare bones of scaffolds, tools, and debris as He works.

Instead, He spreads a scrim of mercy around my life. He puts His own image on the fabric and convinces people that the picture they see is what I will become. One day. When the renovations are all done and He has finally made all things new.