My son broke the baby gate this morning. He stood on it, leaned back and the whole thing came crashing down. The baby gate is not designed for a nearly six year old to stand on it. It’s meant to deter tiny ones from attempting death defying feats as they navigate through the house. It wasn’t a crisis though, as I had the tools to fix the problem.
We’ve been talking a lot about tools around here lately as I try to explain how things work in our lives to my son. We’re covering hard topics involving laundry machines and their use, microwave ovens and what they do and how utensils can be harmful as well as helpful. As I’ve been teaching him about tools and their uses I realized today that I’ve overlooked one important tool that I use regularly, my Bible. The Bible is a tool for me, a navigation map of sorts to help me figure out who I am in this faith that I live. Each morning I strive to open this tool and dig into the story of those who went before me. Each morning I hope to glean a piece of information which will help me on my day. This tool is essential for living a light filled life for me. This tool is perhaps the most important tool I use.
As I continue my discussions with my son I think I will introduce the Bible as a tool to him. I will encourage him to continue reading his own and help him when he stumbles across something that’s confusing. When you think about it, that’s another tool we have in faith. In faith we have each other. This community, the collective, the engaged if you will are another tool we can use if we recognize it as such. Together we can learn and grow, be healed and transformed in our faith if we access the tools we’ve been given, if we band together as one and serve one another on the journey.
Tools are important in our lives for many reasons. We build houses, cook food, keep clean and move forward all with the help of tools and the things they create. All things in our lives need tending, tuning and maintenance. It’s important for us to remember it’s not just the physical, but the spiritual as well. How are you using your tools? Are you maintaining and repairing your life and faith as needed?
