I am not thinking of old nursery rhymes telling us we’re made of puppy dog tails or sugar and spice. I am thinking of something more substantial. Am I made of stone or flesh, such as mentioned in Ekeziel?
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
Am I prone to a heart of stone?
Or am I more malleable than that? In Isaiah 64:8, we are reminded, “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
I began thinking about all of this on the Feast of St. Joseph when I read a good article about him from Dr. Marshall Taylor – St. Joseph, Old Man or Young Man?
I was particularly taken with #3: Saint Joseph is described in Greek as a τέκτων or “tekton,” which is translated as “carpenter,” but it is better translated as “artisan.” A tekton is anyone involved in physical construction and repair. Joseph may have worked with stone, wood, metal, cement, clay, and other substances. The words “technology” and “architecture” are related to the Indo-European root for tekton.
Sure, thinking of St. Joseph as a carpenter is good, but I’ve begun to picture the other materials in St. Joseph’s hands. I’ve thought of him working stone or metal, making more than just furniture. St. Joseph led my thoughts to his foster son, Jesus, to the materials that he and Jesus would have used in their workshop together. I’ve asked myself, if I am resting in the palm of the Lord, resting in the hands of God, what is He holding? Am I stone, wood, metal or clay?
I know I want my table or chair made out of wood or metal but are those the best materials for a soul?
Am I willing to make myself malleable in the hands of the Lord? Am I open to both His will and His correction or have I become a stiff-necked people often mentioned in the readings during Lent? Moses and the Lord talk about this in Exodus 32 and 33 and in Deuteronomy. Being stiff-necked is a common theme both in the Old Testament and today.
As beautiful as wood, stone and metal are, I want to be easy to work with. I don’t want God to have to get out a hammer or saw as with wood or hammer and chisel with stone to get His point across to me. And I really don’t want him to have use fire or the bellows as with metal. Even clay has it issues.
Me? I want to be play-doh in His hand. I want to be so open to what He wants that I offer no resistance at all. I want to be easy to mold and formed into the woman He created me to be. This is not an easy task but it’s a worthy desire.
