St. Bernard Catholic Church in Appleton, Wisconsin shared a note from Deacon Mike Eash.

“Most of you know that I like working with wood. Give me an afternoon in the workshop with a project and a stack of wood and I am one happy guy,” Deacon Eash wrote. 

The reason that woodworking is such a wonderful way to pass the time, Deacon Eash explained, is because it is logical and mathematical. It is a precise artform that will not work if there is a slight miscalculation or if the worker is careless. 

Cooking, on the other hand, has more room for personal interpretation and a basic recipe can provide a solid foundation while the precision of the actual ingredients does not matter as much. 

“I am always a little envious of those who can start with an idea and then bring that idea to life by twisting, bending and shaping until the end piece reflects the image they intended. Every time I have tried to draw, paint or sculpt, I start with a perfect vision of what I want the end result to be, but I just lack the creative vision to make it happen,” Deacon Eash wrote. 

In the book of Isaiah, we read that God is a potter and we are his clay. We are in the hands of the ultimate creator. But unlike the risk of user error, such as is the case with woodworking, we are within God’s perfect hands. 

“We can look around and see that God’s creative ability is far beyond anybody’s imagination. The end result will be perfect. What brings me a little discomfort is that in order for clay to be formed into something beautiful it has to be smashed, punched, twisted, torn and shaped. We will need to be shaped and molded and that process can be painful at times,” Deacon Eash wrote. 

While we may not like the process, let us trust the creator of everything and see what he will make of us.