21.2 The Joy of Godly Craft

In order to place this topic entirely into the guiding idea of this course, that normal humans are those patterned entirely after the Lord Jesus Christ, we will reference “Godly craft” in terms of life in Communities of Christ during the Age of Tabernacles, coming up very soon.

We must do it this way in order to separate a look at humans crafting with their hands inside all the revelation of God – from the present age of human folly, where all the works of men’s hands are only evil continuously. And remember our definition of evil. – Living and doing without acknowledging God with us.

First, however, we will look at two characteristics of work in the present age, all things good-AND-evil and self-worship.

Frankenstein’s Monster. All human invention and craft in the present age contain good and beneficial results right along with evil and destructive results. For instance, the Internet is a wonderful invention through which we can minister the word of Christ to many, and the Internet is an evil invention through which evil men seek to control all.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’s monster is the ruling literary metaphor of this human trait, that in our lust for creating and inventing, we forge our own destruction. This is the curse, you will work with your hands and in the sweat of your brow, but the earth will bring forth thorns and fire ants, right alongside the crops you are trying to grow.

The Princess and the Frog. Of truth, “the princess must kiss the frog.” This is one of the most important truths found in fairy tale. For instance the movie, Penelope, with Christina Ricci – “It’s not the curse that counts, but what you do with the curse.”

It’s not the fire ants that bite welts on my wrists and it’s not the cockleburs that get between my bare feet and my Crocs, but it’s what I do towards those things. I give thanks, for my Father shares all these things with me, and He and I together are turning them into goodness for others. And this is the thing. True and Godly craft will come out from you and me turning all present difficulty into blessing for others. This is our second task and our second greatest work.

Self-Worship. Isaiah spoke of those who worked with their hands to create an image of a “false god.” Every human has always been free to acknowledge “God with me.” No human worship of the “false” has been anything other than a worship of self.

I am my own source; I, I, I – am me.

“Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). King Neb was speaking for all other humans, all who draw their self-identity out from the works of their hands. “I, by me, for me.”

Building Jerusalem. What is Godly craft, having forgotten all curse, and exercised now only out from goodness and only for blessing? “Is not this Jerusalem, that Father and I have built together for a royal dwelling of Father and me, a place of belonging for many, by the power of the Devoted Spirit and for the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ?”

This line I just wrote is one of the most profound things I have ever written for me personally. It is sobering and penetrating. It sets the course of my face without wavering for the next 1000 years. – I can say that without boasting, for I know that it is true. But God has crafted me as only one-half. I must have “a Don Howat” walking with me for our gifts to fill full each other’s.

Our Greatest Work. Maureen and I have had the opportunity over recent times to observe our children, now full adults, and to see the deep and genuine care they have for and extend to one another. This is the greatest work of our lives. Indeed, Maureen would never have been able to accomplish such a thing apart from me, and I most certainly would have been a complete failure in that direction apart from Maureen. This is a work we did together; nothing in this present age could be more valuable to us.

The first Godly craft is to build relationships of honor and regard between two and among many. All other craft that is Godly comes out from this first.

Distinguishing Godly Craft. Why have I been mostly unsuccessful in construction work over the last 23 years? It’s because I don’t do well working for money or by myself. In community I built with others for others.

The words flowing onto the page seem to be laying out a list of what makes the works of our hands to be the works of God. So let’s set forth that list of what makes human craft, the works of our hands, to be filled with God.

What is Godly craft? In my mind, I am thinking of all the functions of craft inside of Christian Community, providing for one another’s needs.

The Aspects of Godly Craft. The first aspect of every Godly craft is that building relationships with others is more important than “getting the job done.” Relationships with others are the greatest value of our lives and always the only real issue in any conflict. Godly work means never placing lesser issues as more important than friendship together.

The second part of Godly craft is the giving of thanks inside of and for the sake of all. We turn, in the consciousness of our hearts, all difficulties and all blessings into goodness for the sake of others. We do not make a fetish or a shrine over difficulties, for all ease and favor are the same, that is, turned into blessing for others.

Joy and Benefit. The third part of Godly craft is that the work of our hands sings with joy inside each one’s make-up, metabolism, and love. My son and my brother love woodworking and metalworking, but they don’t like writing. I love woodworking and writing, but I don’t like metalworking. There is a completion of self in the joy of Godly craft.

Finally, the fourth aspect of Godly craft is that we work with our hands to produce tangible good for ourselves and for others. Being human includes the mundane inconveniences of living together inside an ecosystem. But what is missing is curse, that which brings death and hurt. Godly craft benefits only; it conveys no hurt.

Different Kinds of Useful Craft. Here is a write-up I had on my former “YGuide” website.

~ The delights of strong and healthy children, warm and inviting homes, the aroma of herbs, the cackle of chickens, the richness of the soil, shaping wood into beauty, tinkering with machinery, the comfort of a full and well-stocked pantry, the beauty of growing things. ~ Dream of a simple life, of the increase of the fruits of the earth and of your labor. Share with others from your abundance.

Then, here were the different pages in the website. ~ The Homestead – The Herbarium – The Wood Shop – The Healthy Home – The Home School – The Farmstead – The Garden – The Metal Shop – The Home Office – The Home Studio.    

A Celebration of Work. Every one of these headings contains a variety of crafts that serve the needs of one another and of the community. Community as the revelation of the Father is a celebration of the work of our hands to serve one another.

God designed us as humans to be fulfilled, to be made complete inside and outside, by the work of our hands to produce beautiful and useful things. Thus we must conclude that the completion of God is the same, that God loves making beautiful things that give joy to others, that He is fulfilled in His own Person by doing things. This is why a Body is so important to God, for our hands are His hands and our feet are His feet.

Realness and Lostness. I know the realness of Christian Community life and work. I know the lostness that constitutes the human soul of most. All the screaming refusal, all the running away, all the defensive carelessness, these things rule in the lost human soul because there is no connection to real life. Now, when I say “most,” I exclude violent criminals or scheming psychopaths, for their salvation is beyond my present frame.

Take any lost individual, including many Christians by a Biblical definition of lostness. The first thing is that each must be separated from the crowds of others who are also lost. Each one must find themselves in the context of God-knowing others who do real and useful work for one another.

The Path to Wholeness. Growing food that is placed on the table to be enjoyed by the family, working with animals that provide food or clothing, making things that people you see daily will enjoy, doing these things brings a completion of self inside of a lost individual that can come no other way.

Of truth, this is a long-established practice of bringing wholeness to individuals, having them work with horses or in a garden or other similar crafts connected to nature and reality. Take any spoiled twenty-year old brat in today’s world acting as a “social justice warrior” in contradiction to all reality and true justice, and this celebration of Godly craft inside of Christ Community, separated from other similar brats, is their only path to wholeness.

Defining the Human. A human is a being who is designed by God to work with hands and feet, with heart and tongue, to craft and shape the elements of heaven and earth into new and beautiful and useful things for themselves and for others. A human is a being who finds completion of self inside productive and creative work in careful quality and in abundance.

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:1-3).

Celebrating the Sabbath. The word “ended” is better translated as “completed.” The meaning of God’s rest is much more than “stopped working.” Instead, the Rest of God is His completion inside Himself, the joy and meaning that comes from making things that are to be enjoyed by others.

Then, continuing in Genesis 2, God and man work together to shape the elements of heaven and earth, the first picture to us of synergeoing with God to make all things good.

The joy of Godly craft is the celebration of what it means to be human. The joy of Godly craft is God’s celebration of His own meaning and completion through us. This is the meaning of the Sabbath, the honor of completion, a job well done.