Enough!

In the Christmas season be content with what is given and received. What we have now, what we receive, and what we give to others is enough.

In this life, be thankful, many around you have less. We have enough.

For what is received, be thankful for the gift giver. They provided what they have to give…it is enough.

In the same way your gift to others has taken thought and effort and time. Your gifts are enough.

If we find Enough in the midst of our Christmas celebration, then we can allow time to become mindful and be still. In that moment appreciate family and friends and this season of grace given to each of us. Pray for those alone and with less this season. Forgiving grace and the peace it brings is a gift from our Father in heaven and it is not just enough, it is all.

Merry Christmas!

What is good.

In all the turmoil in our world today it is important to remember a simple teaching from Paul, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things…and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

The Golden Ratio - evidence of a creator

The appreciation of beauty within of all of us is tied to a simple ratio. The numbers are not conscious and most people are completely unaware that they apply the mathematics every day. To view a beautiful object our minds automatically measure the ratio of each part to the whole. Flowers, our face, a tree, and our solar system can all be tied to a simple ratio: 1:1.618. Examples are all around you right now in the place you read this post.

My purpose today is not to explain the ratio. You may explore the details in other places. This post is to make you aware that the same designer-creator that created the world, also placed inside you the ability to appreciate the beauty all around.

The table above should look like it fits to the table base in a pleasing way to your eye. The top is 60 inches in diameter and the length of the each table base is 37 inches. The ratio of 37:60 is 1:1.618. A table crafted to appeal to a built in mathematical ratio that allows mindful appreciation by all. If you are an artist, craftsman, or builder, our creator has already given to us all what is needed to make what is pleasing and beautiful.

More importantly this is evidence of a God who built the universe with a simple number sequence. He then placed within us, a mind and eye calibrated to appreciate His creation.

Work as a carpenter

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In work as a carpenter, each piece that is crafted is built to serve a purpose and the intent is do so simply and beautifully in a way that becomes timeless. The process of building, if done well, selects the best type of wood, with the right grain and color mindful of what the finished piece will look like.

The rough lumber is milled to the right dimensions and planed to bring each surface into harmony with each adjacent side. Defects are removed or kept depending on their usefulness or aesthetic impact on the whole.

Parts are joined together to lend strength to each other in a way that is pleasing to the eye. The assembled piece becomes valuable to the builder as it nears completion since the value of the material and the hours of work make each step more precious than the last.

Every small detail at completion becomes a part of what was before until nothing else is needed to be done.

It is said that the work of a master is different from an apprentice only by the amount of shavings removed. The master only removes what is necessary.

The measure of a piece is as before. Does it serve a higher purpose, simply and beautifully over time.

Preservation of Craft in Community

The craft of woodworking using hand tools began to decline at the end of the first world war. It was inevitable once the industrial revolution of the late 19th century began. After World War II the building trades including furniture making needed to replace the work places, homes, and furnishings that had been destroyed during the war. The only way to do so quickly was to turn to power tools and factory automation. This accelerated the demise of traditional programs that taught carpentry and woodworking in systems of master and apprentice. Braces, chisels, hand planes, and handsaws were put aside for power drills, electric routers, and table saws. There was a further decline as programs that taught woodworking and other traditional craft were dropped from most secondary education programs. The value to our culture had become machine made products done quickly and mass produced.

The value of a handmade piece using older working methods had been lost and it impacted our relationships. Our reliance on others for these basic needs had help solidify our neighborhoods and the bigger community. No one hired a contractor to build an addition to a house, repair a table leg, or hang a door. The value of the work was felt and treasured in memories of shared experience.

A house addition that my Dad and Uncle built along with neighbors has been used for over 60 years as a gathering place for all. The one place each year that all of our family and most of our neighbors could say they would be, is in that house on Christmas Eve.

This home became a special and sacred space for everyone. It was an example of what Christ meant when he said “love God and love one another.” He meant not only thoughts and words of love one for another but caring work together in service to all as true worship of Him.

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Christmas Giving

The Christmas season is a time of wonder for us as children and a time of stress as we become older and try to bring the fleeting promise of Santa and lights, and presents to others big and small. The older we get some of the joy is replaced by grief for loved ones that are no longer with us. My prayer is that we can remember the promise of Christ…faith in Him provides the eternal gift of life.

During this season it makes me feel better to be active and turn to my tools and my workbench and woodworking. I have found peace as I use those skills try to support a higher purpose other than my own. It seems however that giving without cost, as Christ did for us, is not well received. The cost is paid by the giver and many times what is freely given, no matter the cost has no lasting value to the receiver.

We should go back to a simpler time. One of giving gifts of our time and mindfulness and patience to our family, our friends, and our community. Making a gift with our own handwork connects us to the recipient. It provides a more lasting evidence of our purposeful caring.

There is no answer here…only a clear certain knowledge that Jesus was completely abandoned even by the Peter and all but one apostle, yet he loved each one of us enough to die on the cross for our sins. It was the greatest gift of all.

Do It Anyway - Mother Teresa

A close friend gave me this yesterday. This is a version of poem written on a wall in Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. it was never between you and them anyway.

Take things as they come

The Community Table

When my wife passed away unexpectedly my children were 14, 15, and 17. My oldest son passed away ten years later. Life during this time was chaos. There was too much to deal with in the grief and questions and aftermath of each event. All of the questions of what happened and the emotions in a time when there are no answers was overwhelming. Seeing the grief my children experienced was horrible. We had no answers. Life became like a hurricane that stalls, whips around all the parts of your life, and shreds every relationship.

Ever wonder where you fit into the all the swirling and struggle in this life. There are two things that helped me during these bad times. I came to have faith in Jesus Christ. I know many will stop reading here. All I can say is that faith in the midst of chaos is what saved me. I found comfort in my search for meaning in prayer, bible study, and service. These were the only things that I could count on. My faith was not a sudden revelation but a slowly emerging belief that there is a way forward for all of us. It came to me that as I had faith to live the next minute of my life that it would get better. The revelation to take things as they come leaving to Christ my life is what got me through. My faith in Christ continues and becomes stronger each day.

We all get overwhelmed, stressed and have too much coming at us all at one time. Take care of what is in front of you now, the rest can wait til later. Take things as they come in faith. Learn to appreciate the birds in the field. (Matthew 6:28)

Above…the Community Table timber frame complete. This build had many parts, hundreds of people, and was over a year in the making. The struggle and problems in the midst of the battle dim over time. The good memories made and a place for gathering and life remain in place.

Dovetails-Patience & Mindfulness

To do hand cut dovetails well takes two things…mindfulness and patience. You can read about how to perform the steps and all the “tricks and tips” on other sites.

Patience is needed to learn the details of dovetail construction and move through all the gyrations needed to execute each part. Dovetails are generally done in groups of 1 to 7 or so. Each one requires its own time and they can be tedious. There is a tendency to try and execute them as fast as possible. Don’t. Be patient and execute each step on each tail and pin. You or your client will appreciate the beauty of well executed joinery for the rest of your life and after. Mistakes will show and become maker’s marks and be with you forever. That may not be a bad thing. Dovetails always provide humility.

You can find on the internet, woodworkers that execute a single dovetail flawlessly in softwood in two minutes or less. They imply if you buy their dovetail guild, their saw, or use their methods (tails first, blue tape, cheat and use basswood,) that you can be just as fast and precise. Actually you can…after cutting enough dovetails, your eye and hand and mind will understand. The key is to have the patience with yourself to learn. Any of the tools and techniques will work, you are the problem until your not. :)

Mindfulness is the second part that is absolutely required. Do the saw cuts one stroke too far and they show. Pare waste below the baseline and it will show. The challenge is staying in the moment to allow the precision required of a beautifully executed joint. Perfectly worked dovetails in photos are done by woodworkers that have mastered the moment.

The last thought I’d leave with you is this. Woodworking forces us to be patient and be mindful, to stay in the present. To do the work well does not allow us to worry about tomorrow or what someone said yesterday. We can concentrate on making something beautiful and in doing encounter the peacefulness that is so fleeting in our lives.

The little box above is in mesquite and has a touch of turquoise inlay to complement and add color. Its purpose was to serve as a funeral urn and was executed with intent, and mindfulness for someone that I knew. Patience and mindfulness are blessings returned to me in this work.