Carpentry and God's Choices

Wrestling with intricacies of carpentry has had me thinking about Joseph - a lot. I've often wondered what type of man he must have been to take on a woman and a child who wasn't his, but there really isn't much to his story.

We know the things he did, like marrying Mary, stepfather to Jesus, and that God guided him in the decisions that affected his newly acquired family. However, beyond that the only thing we know about him aside from his involvement in Jesus' life is that he was a carpenter.

Usually when that part of the story is told, we are reminded that this man had humble trade and how God can use anyone who is willing. What we aren't told is the role of a carpenter in that day.

You see, back in those days a carpenter was a bit more than just someone who hammered pieces of wood together. He would have had to know how to work with wood, stone, an adobe type clay, perhaps even some metal smithing techniques, and how all these elements worked together to form a home, furniture, or other type of construction.

He had to be able to work without the benefit of power saws, YouTube tutorials, or even some of the mathematics that carpenters rely on today. He would have been an architect, designer, contractor, and laborer all rolled into one.

As such this meant, he had to have a mind capable of grappling with variables that would leave you or I stumped. He had to be patient and have the ability to grasp and respond to the details that are overlooked by an outsider.

                                                    A short video tour of the Gypsy Bus.


People of his time got this. They understood the knowledge, skill, and wisdom that such a man must posses to be a success in this field. And we know he was a success because customs of that day would not have allowed him to take a wife otherwise - especially, not from such prestigious family.

In fact, carpenters were so we respected that they were often sought out for counsel on other matters. If a Rabbi could not be found the local carpenter was the next choice for guidance and advice. Several rabbis were carpenters and taught their students Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings as they worked on the projects that fed their families.

Today as I wrestled with a drawer - a single stupid drawer - that would not slide correctly, I realized how easily we have dismissed the people who were meant to teach us, how we've discounted their gifts, and failed to honor them as the example they were meant to be. I was humbled as a few bits of wood showed me how foolish I can be and how easily my temper flares, often doing more damage than good in my strides towards goals I wish to achieve. And I was forced to ask myself whether a person at such loss before something so seemingly simple could be trusted to dispense *wisdom* to others?

Carpenters were daily confronted by their own limitations, as I was today. It makes you cautious and makes you slow down to ponder the issue at hand as few other tasks do. And I have to wonder if that in and of itself does make it profession suited for the most noble among us? Perhaps that is why Joseph was the most fitting choice for such a grand adventure.