SINCERELY SCOTTY by Walter Scott: Build Wisely

Build Wisely

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”  — Gandalf The Grey from the Fellowship of the Ring

An elderly carpenter was about to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife, enjoying his extended family.  He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.  The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.”

Imagine the shock and shame the carpenter must have felt.  If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.  Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.  Tommy John, a very successful pitcher in professional baseball once said, “Always give 100 percent, that way you’ll never have to second guess yourself.”  The old carpenter should have followed this advice.    

So it is with us. Sometimes we build our lives in a distracted way, willing to do less than our best.  Then, with surprise, we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the flawed house we have built. How many times have we said, “I wish I could start (a project) over” or, “If I had only known …….”  I know that in looking back over the two plus years I was working on the Methodist church, there are several things I would do differently that would have made the job easier or cheaper.  That can probably be said for any big project – especially when you are trying to visualize what something will look like from a set of drawings.  Once again, we are using our 20-20 hindsight.

Think of yourself as the carpenter.  Think about building your house like you would build your life.  Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall.  Each day you have the opportunity to make a compliment, or a criticism, do a good or bad deed, greet or ignore a stranger, smile or frown. Would it be shoddy or solid construction?  Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build.  Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity.

Many years ago, I shattered my leg.  Later, when I made visits to the doctor for check ups, I would always read the words he had framed in his office.  It went like this “I shall pass through this world but once, Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, Any   kindness that I can show to any human being, Let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.”  The doctor got a copy for me and it is now a framed reminder in my office.  Every time I read it I’m reminded to build wisely.

Sincerely, Scotty

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