Jim Esten

I’m awfully fond of old tools and greatly admire folks who can use them — especially those things which are powered only by the muscle and intellect of the person holding the tool.  However, I realized a long time ago that even having a shop full of very capable tools does not make a very capable tool user.  Those in the OldTools community are fortunate to have among them some phenomenally skilled folks to learn from.  I’ve discovered a principle (okay… discovered probably a real stretch….) that I believe applies rather universally.  When you get to know people who are really good at something, but know them beyond that context, you realize that on some level, you need not fear attempting what they have mastered.  You may never do it as well as them and may even fall flat on your face, but your perspective changes dramatically.

This occurred to me as a looked at yet another spot in this old house that needs some attention and realized that having this change of perspective in the last decade has actually allowed me to accomplish quite a number of things I didn’t even know I could do.. let’s see, just off the top of my head ……

1. made new storm windows for the basement since only screens existed when we moved in
2. replaced glass in at least 2 windows on the property per year since my now 13 year old played U8 level soccer
3. replaced a ceiling fan with light kit on front porch
4. replaced a broken secondary faucet on the kitchen sink (plumbing used to be REALLY scary to me!)
5. added a storm door to the back basement entrance
6. replaced a sprayer kit on the kitchen sink
7. reinforced the bottoms of upwards or two dozen dresser drawers over the past few years
8. stopped the shower from leaking
9. modified the dryer door latch to stop it from popping open
10. patched a hole in the dishwasher tub
11. installed a new auger drive belt on the snowblower
12. ran wire to put wall switches in several places where bare lightbulbs with pull chains lived

… and as I think about it, the list goes on and on and on. 

It is really easy sometimes to think of the things that just seem so far beyond us.  Take a moment to think of the things you’ve actually accomplished — especially the little things.  We’re inundated with plenty of things that make us feel like a dufuss.  And yeah, I know I’ve made three trips to the hardware store in the span of 4 hours to fix something that somebody who REALLY knew what they were doing would have knocked out in a few minutes.  But on the whole, give yourself a little credit.  You’re probably more capable than you think!!

I noticed that this year, the commemoration of Dr. King seemed rather subdued (though even the low key of that paled in comparison to the next to nothing coverage of a quarter million and then some folks at the March for Life…). This greatly saddens me. Although I did not support him, I had to admire the American people when we elected an African American President. While he carries some views that really perplex me, it felt like maybe we’d turned a corner in this culture. You don’t have to dig far to realize we really haven’t come all that far.

Lila Rose, the president of Live Action  (liveaction.org), did a piece a few months ago that painfully illustrates this.  While so many in this great country really do have have their hearts in the right place, the things we let go on around us appall me.  Here is the opening paragraph from that piece:  (I encourage you to visit Live Action and read the full piece HERE)

 Over the summer, The Advocate investigated the financial dealings of Planned Parenthood and made some shocking discoveries about the clinic-owning “nonprofit.” We obtained the information by having an actor call clinics across the country and pose as a donor. The actor who called, The Advocate’s advisor, communicated to them a very racist agenda—the one that Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood’s founder, had envisioned. He then asked to donate money specifically for the abortions of African-American babies in order to “lower the number of blacks in America.”

To which, Dr Alveda King, niece of Dr Martin Luther King, said:

Again, I encourage you to visit Live Action and read the full piece HERE

We’ve got a long way to go. Seems like we’ve gotten awfully selfish during my lifetime.  We’ve settled for telling ourselves that it is enough not to be participating in evil.  But we urgently need to see that our sins of omission have just as terrible impact as those of commission. I just finished reading Abby Johnson’s book detailing her departure from Planned Parenthood and subsequent support of the Pro Life position. It is a gut wrenching book to read but inspiring.  May we all have the courage to do the right thing.