Build your house wisely
Recently, I came across an article that related the story about an elderly carpenter that was getting ready to retire.
The carpenter informed his employee about his intentions to retire, and his employee was sad to see his boss go. As a favor to him, the carpenter asked his employee to build one more house for him. The carpenter’s employee agreed with the carpenter’s request, but over time, it became very evident that the employee’s heart was not in his work. The employee’s work was shoddy and he chose to use inferior materials in his construction of the house.
It was truly a very sad way to end both the carpenter’s and the employee’s career.
When the work was completed on the house, the carpenter came to inspect it. Much to the employee’s surprise, he handed the employee the keys to the house and said “This is your house. It is my gift to you.” The employee was both shocked and ashamed, and was faced with the prospect of living the rest of his life in a house that would very likely soon fall down around him.
So it is with us.
We are given this life by God and are asked to build the best life that we possibly can. If we are not careful, we can easily get distracted and not put our best efforts or attitudes into building our house. Every thought that we think and every emotion that we express are the hammer and nails that construct our house. Over the course of our lifetime, our houses begin to take shape and eventually we all have to live in the houses we have built. Our house is the sum total of all the attitudes and choices we have made up until the present day.
This is both good news and bad news. We can act with shock and regret over the current condition of our house, or we can rejoice in the good news that there is always time to remodel.
Every day, we are hammering nails and erecting
the walls of our own personal houses. If we do this lovingly and consciously, we can truly build a palace. If we do it unconsciously, with fear and hatred, we will create a monstrosity! The choice is up to us. Even if we only have one more day to live, (and that is all any of us have on any given day), we can build with love and grace. There is an old saying that goes “What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.”
It is our choice what sort of gift that we return to God. Let us all choose to build our houses wisely, for God truly deserves our very best!
Dr. Angelini is a licensed psychologist and a business and personal coach. He has been in practice for over 30 years. He specializes in assisting individuals in finding and sustaining careers that are rewarding, life-enhancing, and in keeping with their personal and spiritual values. He can be reached by email at rayangel58@gmail.com or you may visit his website at https://drrayangelini.com.