Carpentry: God’s Occupation

By Robert B. Greving

If you could choose an occupation for your child, what would it be? Why would you choose that trade? Would you choose your own?  I suppose that would depend upon what you thought of your job and whether you enjoyed it.  Your child might follow your lead, too, if you were willing to teach him and if he had the traits necessary to succeed at it.  

Joseph Was a Carpenter

We tend to think that our Lord was a carpenter because Joseph was a carpenter. That’s true, but there was nothing accidental or incidental about our Lord’s life. 

What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6:2–3).

His earthly father could just as easily have been a fisherman, a farmer, a merchant, a rabbi, or a scholar.  His Father in Heaven chose the carpentry trade for him, I think, because, in a way, it was His occupation, too. 

In those days, a carpenter, especially in a village, had a much broader scope.  The Greek word used for Joseph’s trade meant a worker in raw materials, usually wood; a craftsman.  Given the time and place, Joseph would probably have been more or less the local handy-man; the one you went to for a new plow or if the gate was broken, when you needed another room for your son and his new wife or wanted a sluice to help water your crops.  It would require not only technical know-how but also knowledge of people and nature. 

Carpentry

All honest trades are honorable, so I don’t want to say one type of work is better than another; but considering what is needed to be a good carpenter (and Joseph and our Lord were assuredly very good at their work), we may be able to see something of the “personality” of God in this work, and perhaps some traits we should strive for. 

Carpentry, especially in the absence of power tools, seems to call for the perfect balance of strength and gentleness; sure cooperation of the hand and the mind. You are taking the rawest of materials – wood, stone, and metal – and fashioning something that is beautiful and useful. You are bringing it to completion.  

You have to know what wood you are working with; just how far you can bend it or how much weight it will bear before it breaks. Some woods – for example, pine and cedar – are used for building because they resist rot better; others –  such as oak and mahogany – are chosen for the beauty of their grain. The same with metal and stone.  You use iron for different purposes and fashion it differently than you would copper or tin.  You use hard granite for paving and building; you use alabaster for carvings and ornaments. 

Imagination

So what does a good carpenter need?  What do we need?  

The first trait that comes to my mind is imagination.  A handyman can see the possibilities.  He can envision what the room will look like when that wall is removed or a window is put in that corner; how the brass or the marble can be worked.  He can find extra space for your dishes or a new route for the plumbing.  Our Lord had imagination.  He saw possibilities in men and women you and I would have thrown in the scrap heap. 

Think of the difference between what He saw and what others saw in Peter, Matthew, Mary Magdalen, Zaccheus, Saul.  Would you or I have chosen Joan of Arc to lead an army or an obscure Polish cardinal to lead the Church into the Third Millennium? We need to ask for His imagination to see the possibilities in others and in ourselves. 

Wisdom

Then there is wisdom; knowledge from experience.  A handyman must know what can be done, and what can’t.  He never tries to force things.  As they say in theology, “Grace builds upon nature – it doesn’t change it.” A mistake in knowing your material can wreck the whole project.  I know I am grateful to my parents, the teachers, coaches, and bosses who recognized my strengths and weaknesses. 

At the same time, I can think of many situations that haven’t turned out well because I’ve demanded that a person – a child, a spouse, friend, or employee – be something he or she just isn’t.  Stone is beautiful for walls or floors, but I wouldn’t want a bed made from it.  Francis of Assissi probably would have made a poor pope and Philip Neri for a rather troublesome Carthusian.  Let’s pray to know what we’re working with and how to work with it, both in others and in ourselves.   

Finally, patience.  The one, iron-clad rule of life is – things will not go as you expect. Watch any “fixer-upper” show and there is the inevitable part when things go wrong.  The beam breaks, the wall can’t be put there, the city inspector comes and tells you the electrical work must be re-done.  Those who see the project through are the ones who, usually with a sense of humor, can take a step back and say, “Don’t worry; all is not lost. There is a way.”  It takes re-thinking, re-working, re-planning.  Have you ever had any project work perfectly? 

Heaven – especially Heaven – knows the Church hasn’t always worked the way she’s supposed to work.  I’ve never seen a good carpenter who rushed things.  All of us are a “work in progress,” and will be till we die.  God has infinite patience with us.  As St. Francis de Sales often said, “Have patience with everyone, above all, with yourself”. 

These are just a few.  If you want to get a better idea of this, give yourself a project around the house and try to do it as well as possible.  As you do, think of God’s dealing with you, fashioning you, working with you and on you. Then try to deal with others the same way.