And of Joseph he said: ‘Blessed of the LORD is his land, With the precious things of heaven, with the dew, And the deep lying beneath, With the precious fruits of the sun, With the precious produce of the months, With the best things of the ancient mountains, With the precious things of the everlasting hills, With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the [burning] bush (Deut. 33:13-16, NKJV).
One of my favorite pastimes is woodworking. My love for working with wood came essentially from my high school shop class when our first project was to make a small cedar jewelry box for our mothers. The smell of aromatic cedar had always captivated me—in part because that was the smell that arose whenever my mom lifted the lid on her hope chest in my folks’ bedroom. It was where her precious things were stored. Her taking us to that old cedar chest for something was always an adventure—an adventure similar to going to the attic. Probably what made these quests so enjoyable was that they were almost always accompanied by stories of my mom and dad’s past.
I believe that chest came from Stickley Brother’s Furniture in Grand Rapids, the first place that my mother had worked as a young woman. Our dining room suite came from Stickley Brothers as well. And Moth
er’s first purchase there, a Windsor chair that she got for $7, remains in our home—still solid as a rock after some 85 years of use. That chair remains while many other cheap pieces of furniture we accumulated over the years have gone to the landfill. The famous old furniture factories of Grand Rapids, once called the “Furniture Capital of America,” knew the value of both good wood and good work.
Having those influences in my life, I was especially captivated by the words of Wendell Berry in reference to our use of the precious things of the earth that we often fail to properly value:
Wendell Berry
By denying spirit and truth to the non-human Creation, modern proponents of religion have legitimized a form of blasphemy without which the nature- and culture-destroying machinery of the industrial economy could not have been built—that is, they have legitimized bad work.
Good human work honors God’s work. Good work uses no thing without respect, both for what it is in itself and for its origin. It uses neither tool nor material that it does not respect and that it does not love. It honors nature as a great mystery and power, as an indispensable teacher, and as the inescapable judge of all work of human hands. It does not dissociate life and work, or pleasure and work, or love and work, or usefulness and beauty. To work without pleasure or affection, to make a product that is not both useful and beautiful, is to dishonor God, nature, the thing that is made, and whomever it is made for. This is blasphemy: to make shoddy work of the work of God. But such blasphemy is not possible when the entire Creation is understood as holy and when the works of God are understood as embodying and thus revealing his Spirit.
In the Bible we find none of the industrialist’s contempt or hatred for nature. We find, instead, a poetry of awe and reverence and profound cherishing, as in [the] verses from Moses’ valedictory blessing of the twelve tribes [above].
Wendell Berry. Christianity and the Survival of Creation. Pantheon Books, 1992-3.
[Cedar chest photo from Lynda True]
[Stickley Brothers photo source]
February 1st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I believe that Berry’s comments about “Good human work honors God’s work” doesn’t just apply to working with wood, or natural resources, but applies to all work.
We evangelical types would say that Ephesians 2:10 applies to works of ministry such as teaching, preaching, witnessing, etc. but since we are saved by grace alone through faith alone and “that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” don’t you think that all work is holy? We are to work “heartily as unto the Lord” I like how the Message renders Colossians 3:22: Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God.
Anything less, I believe, is as Berry says: blasphemy! Ouch, that hurts me, but causes me to look at work a little different. It is holy labor, and done for the King.
February 1st, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Wow, Dean, this is indeed a power packed commentary.
Have to find myself agreeing with Wendell Berry.
I have built buildings, furniture, just about every thing in the remodeling realm, with wood, as well as steel and concrete.
There is no substitute for good work.
There is a relationship that exists between the material and the worker. A creative experiance that comes only when you are able to take what’s in your mind and manifest it by the work of your hands.
It is a spiritual experiance for sure.
Working with wood comes with many positives. The feel of it, the smell of it, and if I may say, some pride in it as well.
Have learned to pray before undertaking any projects. So that God is honored in my work and a very needed ally in the work of my hands.
Thanks Dean.
PS I saw a chipmonk today. Can you believe it? We still have over a foot of snow on top of a hard ice covering the ground. Oh well, guess he was getting low on supplies.
Steve
February 1st, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I do believe what Berry says applies to all our work. The “Protestant work ethic” that I referred to a few posts back, in fact, should have made that clear. The Reformers truly sought to sanctify all our work, not just the work of direct evangelism or church ministries. The problem was not with the ethic; it was with our loss of valuing the earth and the “resources” of the earth and seeming to forget that we are working not only with human creativity that is a gift of God, but also with the materials that are the gift of God. Part of that comes from the study of economics, which many economists want to call a “science.” So we can talk about goods and services as though they are of neutral value. But they aren’t. Goods are the “precious things of the earth” given to us by the hand of God. Services are the creative work of mankind, which is also a gift of God. Hence the stink of our landfills has to rise up into the nostrils of God as an affront—human despising of these two great gifts from the hand of our Creator.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Yes, Steve; I have those same feelings when working with wood. But I can certainly learn from you and your practice of praying before you set your hand to the task.
I also have a restless, hungry chipmunk in our yard, and I made the mistake a few days ago of leaving the side door of our garage ajar. Now my sack of sunflower seeds has been breached and I have a pile of hulls on the floor!
February 1st, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Years ago when I began feeding the critters, I learned (the hard way) to buy some metal trash cans with lids to put my feed in. It works. Before, I only kept the seed bags in my garage. Then one morning when I reached in to fill my can a mouse ran up my sleeve. I ain’t afraid of mice, but you can imagine my reaction to such an unexpected adventure as having a mouse scurrying up my arm inside my shirt. Now I have three, metal trash cans with lids. Even our occasional racoon visitor can’t get to them.
But I still look before reaching inside!
Steve