The Basement Workshop B - 9
“And God saw that it was good”
This phrase is the most repeated wording in the very first book (Genesis) of the Bible. It is the comments attributed to God the Creator after each day of His work of creation. It is repeated over and over, that God said that what He created was good.
It was a small little bungalow in an industrial, railroad-laced area on Chicago’s South Side. My mom lived there with six other brothers and sisters. One bathroom for nine people. Not quite a gated Florida planned community, but a normal big city blue collar area!
Later in life, when all those kids had married and had their own kids, we grandchildren would go to that same bungalow for a Christmas get-together celebration. And especially for us grade-school boys, it was all worth it because my grandfather’s basement was heaven on earth: it was one big workshop, with a huge workbench. Every kind of wood was on the shelves ready to be used: hard wood and soft wood, every width, thickness, and length imaginable. Other shelves held mysterious liquids called paints (oil or latex, inside or outside, dull or shiny, etc.), varnishes, stains, shellacs, sealers, strippers, with brushes of every size and texture.
Other shelves held more tools than I could count. Tools that could do this or that. Tools for almost any work that had to be done. Still other shelves held every kind of nail, screw, bolt and adhesive (it seemed) ever made. I can still smell the sawdust, not knowing where it stopped and the floor began. And as much as Grandpa Harry taught us about how and when to use everything he had, there was far too much information for me to absorb! I thought he put Albert Einstein to shame.
It seemed he was ALWAYS making something new: a birdhouse, a wooden rocker crib for another grandchild, chairs for a backyard. He had mastered the knack of repair, restoration and complete renewal. Give him a dented, broken, scarred, garbage-ready item, give him time, let him remove all the grime and grit, and one day a brand new (it looked) item would be ready. What I would throw out, he would value and work on. And later in life, I came to think that Jesus (who was a carpenter) would have liked to hang out in that basement.
Jesus and Harry did the same kind of work, just in different areas.
As I grew, I found out that most of his work, new or repair, was really the actual beforehand planning, the how-to, the choosing of just the right materials, the visualizing the best final product, which coats of liquids that would be best. Nothing was unplanned. And he was a patient perfectionist; everything had to be first-rate, handcrafted and built to last, regardless of the time needed.
Really, almost exactly like our Brother, Jesus!
Before you and I were even born, he thought out how to make us the right way, what experiences to let us have, how to use even unhappy times for our growth and strength. We were planned and built by a patient perfectionist.
Next time you might belittle yourself, or regret things in the past, or feel dented and broken, come and visit His Workshop! He’s at work right now!
1) As boys at our age, could we be expected to learn and maintain all the information and experience that he had? Wouldn’t it be better to learn a little each day?
2) Might that be like our relationship with Father God today, learning about Him, as much as we can, day by day, with no end to the learning?
3) Couldn’t you sense how much a talented carpenter would be content to be in that workshop?
4) Could you see the absolute joy on his face when he produced a restored item?
5) Could you see excitement and pride as he would share plans?
6) Could you sense how much he wanted to also please the owner of a restored item?
7) What about the quality of his work?