the night before last...

The night before last a young man walked into a church, sat through an hour of Bible lessons and then pulled a gun. Exercising his pretense of racial superiority, he stopped firing only to reload 5 times as  he ended the lives of those who welcomed him to their discussion of Christ's love. Nine dead.

So what's up with American culture? The boy's father gave him a gun on his 21st birthday, even though he appeared to be a troubled youth. It would have been far better for his father to have given him lessons in the wood shop so that he might have learned some valuable skill and been transformed by craftsmanship. The kid was a high school dropout who might have found some value in himself, had education been required to engage his creative potential. Craftsmanship is a powerful tool in the development of character and intelligence. In addition, tools of all kinds have powerful effect on the psyche. Holding a beautifully crafted plane in one's hands can convey a sense of creative power, leading to the inclination to make, rather than awakening and feeding a murderous intent.

I'm generally disgusted with our media, our culture, and the irrationality of our American fascination with guns. Do folks not understand the relationship between mental disturbance and the failure of American society to engage children in the process of making useful beauty?

I am in a motel room, over half-way in my trip to Marc Adams School of Woodworking. So, on TV, the talking heads go on and on. Even they do not understand the way that working with wood centers and empowers the psyche and soul. They do not understand the hand's natural impulse to assert power and control over the materiality of life. For some reason they do not see the connection between the saw, chisel, knife and gun. Those who are not empowered in the creative use of tools, are pushed toward and inclination to engage in destructive acts. Is that so very hard for folks to understand? Perhaps I'm the only one to have noticed such things. But if you recognize some small kernel of wisdom of what I say, do something about it.

Make, fix, create, and encourage others to do the same.