Fearless Faith

One of the early tasks assigned to woodshop class decades ago was a weekly hour devoted to mechanical drawing using draftsmen’s tools. It was purportedly the bane of many a student, especially when power shop tools awaited their attention. Who could deny the siren call of lathes, table saws and jointers over an impersonal mechanical pencil and drawing board?

The specific student task was to measure and draw a small three-dimensional ell-shaped block, then render it into a one-dimensional drawing of a particular view — top, front and back, left and right sides, or angled. It was a worthwhile assignment as it taught students to not only view an object from a distinct perspective but to precisely illustrate what they were seeing, and to do it well enough that the object could be reproduced from the drawings alone.

In later years, a similar exercise was regularly carried out as a parent drew up plans for numerous homes and other projects. Every plan began and ended with elevation views of the project – north, south, east, west – so that an immediate sense was gained of how the finished building would look according to each view. These views often were the final drawings to be done, a reward of sorts for the detail demanded in preceding pages. The scale was always accurate and consistent.

It is amazing how different perspectives change our view and understanding of what is before us. Religion is particularly susceptible in that we find it easier to favor one side, one perspective, one elevation over another, primarily because that is the path of least resistance and the mode of greatest passion. If you were born Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu or Sikh, you likely own a particular religious perspective peculiar to you or your immediate community. That is to be expected. However, to declare the supremacy of one religion over another based solely on birthright is the epitome of human arrogance.

All religion is myopic to some degree, for we like to believe that our faith, our beliefs, our gods matter more than others. If not, what’s the point? There have been plenty of atrocities throughout history stoking the fires of war and pitting one religion against another, and none have a track record that clearly exculpates them from such violence or the victimhood that accompanies it. It is helpful to pause at times, to step around a corner and get a new view and perspective of where we stand in relation to God and others. What we perceive from one elevation might be quite different from another. Do we have the courage to take a long hard look and be truthful about where we stand and what bias is ours to own?

A lesson, therefore, from the woodshop; we must have the discipline to learn foundational basics before we start informing others how wrong they are. It’s easy to dismiss poor scholarship or the diligence needed to see it through. Rote declaration has embedded itself in our spiritual selves and has become our own worst enemy. When the practiced declarations we all grew up with step into the light of day, however, we might just discover something new of ourselves as well as The Divine.

“Is not this the carpenter … the son of Mary?” (Mark 6:3) Who better to teach woodshop basics?