I don’t know if you have ever experienced this, but I find there is something so sweet and so interesting about watching people in their craft. Like my roommate playing volleyball, my mom in her teacher mode, or my youth minister planning next week’s youth group. It’s beautiful watching people make something bigger than themselves and you can learn a lot about a person based on their craft.

I know I often wonder what my craft is- what it is that will light me up and bring me outside of myself. Of course, there are a million different crafts I can partake in or throw myself into, but there is one craft in particular I always forget about, one I am constantly invited to- the Craft itself.

This week I spent time reflecting on the Mater Craftsman and his Craft. It’s not everyday we think of God as a craftsman, right? On this Trinity Sunday, the readings spoke exactly of that.

Psalm 8 says:

"When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place —
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?"

The Craft I speak of means to me two things- the world and life itself as well as our story of Salvation. He crafted these things, did He not? As I sit contemplating the mystery and majesty of God as Craftsman, I realize how often it is I never even bother to appreciate His Craft.

I pray that the beauty of this Craft, the Creator’s work, never goes wasted on me by the small details and nuances of everyday life, such as the worry of my craft, when my primary job is to be a part of the master Craft.

Proverbs 8 speaks specifically of the Master Craft, the Craftsman, and being part of it all:

"When the Lord established the heavens I was there; when he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth; when he set for the sea its limit; then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, playing for him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the human race."

I love this passage because we get to see Jesus’ humanity and divinity. We see his divinity as a co-author of Salvation, co-creator of life, eternally begotten by the Father; and we see his humanity as a source of joy for God, as His Son: “I was his delight day by day, playing for him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth.”

And it was in His humanity, in His participation with God’s Craft, that Jesus “found delight in the human race.”

I see this passage as an invitation to never take advantage of this earth that is God’s playground, His canvas that He is constantly working on. I also take it as an invitation to being the part of the master Craft that God’s want for us to be.

One of my favorite books of all time, Love Does by Bob Goff, contains a passage speaking of just that.

Bob says,

“I get the invitation every morning when I wake up to actually live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy, a life where love does. It doesn’t come in an envelope. It’s ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee drifting lazily from the kitchen. Accepting the invitation to show up in life is about moving from the bleachers to the field. It’s moving from developing opinions to developing options. It’s about having things matter to us enough that we stop just thinking about those things and actually do something about them. Simply put, Jesus is looking for us to accept the invitation to participate. When we accept life’s invitation, it’s contagious too. Other people will watch us and start seeing life as something more amazing, more whimsical than before. When you show up to the big life, people start seeing invitations everywhere as thick as colorful fall leaves.”

My challenge to myself and to everyone else is to train your eyes to see every little occurrence as a gift from the Master Craftsman- as a brush stroke on the canvas of life we are invited to be part of.

There is a quote from St. Bonaventure about St. Francis, one of the most beloved and hippie-esque Saints there is, that sums up exactly what I wish for myself and everyone else in this grand adventure of life.

In his book The Life of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure says:

"In beautiful things he saw Beauty itself and through his vestiges imprinted on creation he followed his Beloved everywhere."