Today is the feast day of Saint Joseph. You know the one, Mary’s main squeeze, Jesus’ foster/ adopted daddy, carpenter by trade, the guy whos intercession protects my husband at work, the little statue you bury upside-down in the yard when you need to sell your house. (For a more thorough account of St. Joseph, watch this!) In honor of Saint Joseph, today I ask you to let go of 12 tools.
This is my favorite painting of St. Joe. I love it for various reasons. The imagery is not only beautiful, but so meaningful as well. Please take a minute to enjoy all the thought behind this amazingly simple painting. Okay now let me tell you something else you should notice.
How many tools does Joseph have? I mean, in all of the paintings and sketches, and stained glass windows, and sculptures I have ever seen of Saint Joey, he NEVER has a mess of tools. He was an actual carpenter (or some think maybe a stone mason) by trade and yet he doesn’t have a million, billion tools all over the place. God really liked Joseph, or he wouldn’t have chosen him to be the earthly father of his only son. Joseph was entrusted and did provide for Jesus through his carpentry work. So if he really needed a whole mess of tools, God would have provided them to Joseph.
Now let’s return to present day. How many tools do you have? I am talking about both hand tools and power tools! How much use do you actually have for them. Can you find the one you need easily when you do need it? Do you just run off to the hardware store when you need something, or do you actually look to see if you have what you might need first? What about all the nuts and bolt and miscellaneous materials that also float around near your tools, do you REALLY NEED these? Are you an actual tradesperson, or was the last time you used your tools to put together an IKEA item? Try to remove at least 12 items for this, the twelfth day of lent.
Now, enjoy your feast day. My Auntie Connie Sue, sent me this lovely recipe for pasta con la mollica a favorite in Italy for todays feast day, which is also father’s day in Italy. The breadcrumbs look like sawdust that would be present in a carpenters workshop. Read the origins of this recipe and try it with me today for our evening meal!
The AMAZINGLY SIMPLE way to reduce the unused tools in your home!
simply,
bridgette
AMAZINGLY SIMPLE 