THE CARPENTER/
November 16, 2007 I apologize for being late with this blog. Patty’s Aunt passed away and we were out of town. Mary Lou Franklin Phillips Egan would have been 103 years old in January 2008. There was a service for her in Burke County, NC the place of her birth and then she was interred in Florida next to her husband.
For almost two weeks I worked with a master carpenter who is also a general contractor. He happens to be Patty’s son so he went easy on his step-father and I am glad. The etymology of the word carpenter in Latin (carpentarius) and Celtic (carpat) both mean carriage. We did not build a means of transportation, but I did learn that carpentry was more than nailing wood together. A master carpenter is an artisan.
In the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament we find these words, “the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.” (NIV Hebrews 3: parts of verses 3 & 4)
I am not a builder. I am not an artisan. I even wonder each day if I am even a person. I am not alone in this. One of the mountains we must climb on the recovery journey is finding our personhood.
Knowing the Builder of everything considers one a person certainly is the centerpiece of making that climb. I personally am a Christian and I don’t try to hide it on this blog, but I am not the one to decide the path for others. All I am saying is that I think knowing the Builder, the Creator, is the best self esteem builder I know of. If I feel embraced and in the arms of the Creator, then all the stigma and discrimination I face can’t make a dent in how I feel about being a person.
A community of believers like the church I attend makes it easier for me to build my relationship with the Carpenter, the Builder of All That Is. The community of believers helps me climb the mountain of recovery.
In the second verse of the 13th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews we find these words, “Do not forget to entertain strangers for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (NIV)
You can reach me directly at [email protected]
