If The Ax Is Dull, More Strength Is Needed.
If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed. But skill will bring success. Ecclesiastes 10:10
All of us can easily find ourselves on one side or another having a definite ax to grind when it comes to the political unrest in our country today. And even if we have good reason, a deep sense of peace, Moral Courage, Kindness, and even consecutiveness seems to be rare state these days. I've been looking at this scripture in Ecclesiastes lately with a deeper appreciation, particularly how we find ourselves as creative artists working harder than we really need to. Sometimes we get into a place where we feel burnt out, but just push on anyway. You know, grip and rip and trudge on as a good Mainer should. We keep chopping away with our dull ax increasing our forceful swings in a false hope that if we just try harder the work will get done and we will get through somehow. The motivational speaker David Loggins says, : "Do things you don't want to do, because there is greatness on the other side." There is some truth in that.
I fact I heard a story recently about two lumberjacks who were competing against each other in a race to see how quickly they could chop down their own old growth trees. The two hardwood trees were both the same size in width and side-by-side as they grew together, But the lumberjacks, whom also were both the same size and just as experienced as the other, both made a critical mistake as they entered the competition. They both forgot to sharpen their axes before they started. So As they began chopping they immediately realized that they were not making enough headway to compete with each other and had to change their strategy. To the crowd's amazement, the first one humbled himself and stopped completely, to carefully sharpen his ax. The second decided to pick up his pace and forged on with all his strength using even harder swings. Although the second one was nearing at the halfway mark of cutting his tree down, the first one soon caught up with him, taking much larger chips out of the tree with now his sharper ax. To the amazement of everyone in the audience, the first lumberjack won the competition while the other finished totally exhausted.
The moral of this story is that sometime we just need to pause and take time to sharpen our resolve and the tools we are using as artists. The first lumberjack took time out to sharpen his ax, which speaks to me as the sharpening of his artistic tools, and even artistic skills. But the second one used his brawn and plowed on as an uninspired artist showing up to the easel with the same results even with the decision to try harder. As creative artists we too have a choice to work harder in an uninspired way in our own strength or take the time to sharpen our skills and tools. By taking the time out from the things that make us anxious in order to fill our creative well, we can focus on sharpening our artistic skills to achieve amazing tasks we thought we could never accomplish.
The painter that I did the most research on in my lifetime, was James Fitzgerald, as I was on my Carina House residency on Monhegan in 1999. According to Anne Hubert, he once said about painting, "You can't force it, you have to wish it!" I think he was right. He was talking about skill over brute force. The lumberjack who humbly seemed to give up actually took the time to do the one thing that would help him achieve excellence and even win the competition. The second lumberjack decided to use his own pride in his own strength and force the dull tool to work harder. But because the first one took the time to sharpen his tool he automatically improved his skill level and he was able to take deeper cuts than the second lumberjack who used all his strength.
So on APRIL 22nd at the Penobscot Nation Boat Landing on Indian Island where I live, I joined a 7-day Land Peace Foundation Spiritual prayer walk that became a JOURNEY OF PEACE & FRIENDSHIP. I actually took a day out of my busy schedule to walk toward a world I wanted to live in and also sharpened my ax.
As my step daughter, Sherri Mitchell, director of the Land Peace Foundation has described," IT IS AN INVITATION TO CONNECT, AN OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE IN LOVING SOLIDARITY WITH OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, TO PURPOSELY WALK TOWARD THE WORLD THAT WE MOST WANT TO INHABIT. WE ARE COMING TOGETHER TO ACTIVELY EMBODY OUR DEEPEST HELD SOCIAL VALUES AND MOST ASPIRATIONAL SPIRITUAL GOALS, SUCH AS: KINDNESS, ACCEPTANCE, MUTUAL CARE, AND RESPECT.
So far, I participated from Indian Island to Orono last Tuesday, which was the first leg of the 7-day spiritual prayer walk. I walked and prayed with a science teacher from Portland and a minister who stepped out of his introverted comfort zone to make this walk with about a hundred others and myself. I am walking again this next Tuesday, April 28th to do the last 2-miles of the journey to the final destination of the prayer walk, the Augusta State House. All are welcome to join us in this walk.
Being a bit of an introvert myself, with my knees not being what they once were, this prayer walk has not been physically easy. As I walk with my walking stick, I have discovered something. That by taking time out of my schedule and humbling myself to participate in this prayer walk with others, I am joining others who are walking toward a better more inspired world I want we all want to inhabit. It has also served to sharpen my artistic vision and inspired me to remember what is really important in my world as an intentional artist, and that is: Kindness, Acceptance, Mutual Care and Respect. So as I continue to live an effectual life as an artist, it is incredibly hopeful for me to be accepted for who I am, the way God has called me to be. This is a great start of my Spring, as I take time out to embrace and sharpen my creative iron, walk, and pray, as I watch the chips fly and fall where they will for this coming 2025 year.
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