Work With Your Hands
Some verses in the Bible can be trickier to relate to from our modern viewpoint. Take 1 Thessalonians 4:11, which commends us, “to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you.” The first two directives seem clear enough, but working with your hands? What does this mean for us, living in the 21st century, when many of us make our living not working with our hands?
In The Quiet Ambition, author Ryan Tinetti shares an epiphany he had with this verse. He suggests that these words from St. Paul, “have resonance with an elemental aspect of our humanity, one that is consistently affirmed in the Scriptures: the capacity to be creative.” He goes on to explain that “working with your hands is a matter not only of manual labor but also of labors of love”.
Currently, there is so much research on the power of creativity and of making something with your hands. And yet, too often, we surrender this impulse to create amid our busy lives. It is much easier to consume than to create, isn’t it?
For me, I have found this love in creating art. But perhaps that doesn't appeal to you. Maybe there’s another way to “make with your hands” that intrigues you? My husband likes creating with wood (he’s currently adding a stained-glass window to our front door!), and our son-in-law makes the best sourdough bread. One of our daughters makes gorgeous, funky rubber stamps, and my 86-year-old mother still regularly creates beautiful things on her sewing machine.
In our busy, often chaotic world, we need creative outlets to center ourselves and bring balance to our lives. It is amazing how much healing can come to us through regular creative practice.