August 17, 2020
Jesus said, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mt_19:16-22
I’ve got this old chest of drawers that someone was going to throw out, that I’ve been using as my tool bin for the past 40-some years. It’s got 5-drawers: one for screwdrivers, one for wrenches, one for electric tools, one for electric wires, etc, and one for painting stuff. Well, as you can imagine, over the years those tools and many other pieces of junk have proliferated in those drawers. Between new Christmas gifts and inheritances from dad, the drawers have gotten so heavy that it’s hard to open and close them any more.
So I decided last week to build a new drawer for all those wrenches underneath the table top of my home-made workbench. And by the time I got my home-made table saw working, made a jig to hold my free router (from opening a bank account 30-years ago), and scrounged up enough scrap wood to not have to buy anything new, three days later I was finally able to get that lawnmower out to cut some over grown grass.
And the next day, there I was scanning the internet to see what kind of new new tool gadgets are out, like table saws and router tables.
Stuff! We’ve got so much stuff and there’s always more. So we build bigger barns (and make more drawers)! I don’t quite think that’s what Jesus or St. Francis had in mind for us to do when they implored joyful poverty. And yet they both had their stints with either carpentry or textile sales themselves. They knew that in order to get things done efficiently there has to be a certain amount of ownership.
I think that if I died tomorrow, anyone knowledgeable in tools would condemn my “workshop,” or just sell it all as antiques for Cracker Barrel to hang on their walls. So I don’t feel too guilty from my overabundance of tool stuff. And it would be nice some day to have some tools that work (right).
But in the meantime – I give thanks to God for allowing me their use. I give thanks for a home to house that “stuff” in. I give thanks for the jobs God has given me to be able to purchase it in the first place. And with all the spare resources I have (and then some) I offer back whatever talents God has given me to help those in need.
Maybe it’s not quite what Jesus had in mind, but it’s a start!
Blessed be God forever!
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Whispers to the Wind 