My father thought forcing me to mow the grass was good for building my character and work ethic. But, at the time, I believed his motive was not to mow himself. And I was not allowed to “mow the grass,” and it had to be his standard of what cut grass should look like. This experience is where I began to understand the concept of “taxation without representation.”
My father also taught me how to sand wood. He was just as picky about sanding as he was about mowing. Sanding had to be done in a prescribed manner. There could be no improvisations.
Now in my mature stage of life, I have two blessings that take care of mowing the grass. First, we cleared only enough trees to build our house, leaving us with a small shady yard. As a result, even most weeds are restrained from thriving. The second blessing is that I have a son-in-law who is gracious to do my mowing.
That gives me more time for woodworking. I love everything about working with wood except for the sanding! I love almost every part of building something from a hunk of wood. I love dreaming up a plan. I love drawing the idea out into a design on the drafting table. I love honing the draft as I build. I love the smell and feel of the wood. I love the feel of the tools in my hand. And I love the finished object.
The stage I have to be the most intentional and disciplined about is sanding. Sanding is the most time-consuming process of a build. It is also the most physically demanding. I do not enjoy developing my sanding skills. But I do it because what I require of my efforts cannot be achieved without it.
Achieving an acceptable finish requires four grits of sandpaper, 0000 steel wool, and three buffing wheels. In my woodworking arsenal of tools, I have an eight-inch belt sander, a three-inch belt sander, a one-inch belt sander, a palm sander, an oscillating spindle sander, and a ten-inch drum sander.
Sanding does not always increase the functionality of a project, but it will always reveal the builder’s character. My perplexity begins with my mental image of a completed project. I know what I want others to feel and see. Therefore, the only way to reduce sanding is to lower my expectations.
Now let me make a brief and partial comparison of mowing and sanding. The most prominent similarity for me is that I don’t like either. The rules are about the same for both straight parallel strokes. Both look good when they are completed. Both make me sneeze, and my nose run. The difference between the two is dramatic; mowing is never finished, paused for a day or two, but never, ever, is mowing grass-finished. The best aspect about sanding is that once it is correctly done and the finish is applied, there is no more sanding. Additional sanding is destructive.
From my vantage point, the Christian life is more like mowing grass than sanding wood. All I see is the constant repletion of keeping myself on track. There are far too many “dos” and “don’ts” to monitor. And too many gnarly obstacles in the way of progress.
As we plod through life, fighting our lower self and defending the impact of the lower self from others, we often feel life is like mowing grass. We try to kill the weeds and nourish the grass while our efforts are rewarded with more weeds and uneven-growing grass. But, from God’s vantage point, the Christian life is like sanding wood, not mowing grass. When He has finally finished His sanding process on us, only then will He apply the “finish,” and we will be completely complete!
Permit God to mow and sand you into His unique inspiration of you. If we do not allow God to make us fit for His plan for eternity, we will not be privileged to occupy a space in His eternal plan.
I believe this was at least a part of Jesus’ promise to his disciples when he told them, and us, not to worry but to trust him as he goes to “prepare a place for you.” His working on you and me is his preparing that “place.” Jesus has gone from our presence but not from His process of completing us for His eternal purpose.
Mixing metaphors is seldom acceptable, and it may not be here, but I trust you will understand my mixture; “Let’s accept God’s ongoing work of mowing our lawns today so that He might be gloriously pleased when the sanding is done and the final coat of finish is buffed out.”
We don’t enjoy being disciplined. It always seems to cause more pain than joy. But later on, those who learn from that discipline have peace that comes from doing what is right. (Hebrews 12:11 God’s Word translation)
Photo – There is no recall of where this building is. I thought the herringbone design was fascinating.
Baldwin Heirlooms 