No wood, just words this time

But what great words they are. From Judge Learned Hand, one of our most respected American jurists. (And what a great name, too, huh? His brother was also a judge, and his name was Augustus.) These words are from a 4th of July address entitled The Spirit of Liberty:

I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.

Amen, Brother L. Amen.

Things I have made, part 9

Made out of better-than-average pine, finished with wax. I designed it to be simple to make and cut it with my scroll saw. I took these pictures before I gave them away because I have a tendency to lose my patterns.

Now every chair is a work chair!

I have a comfy chair by the fireplace. Not only that, it is leather and totally manly. The only problem is that it was only good for sitting in and reading, or dozing off. I needed versatility, or else sitting there would be unmitigated pleasure. Thank goodness I decided to make this lap desk! The top is 5/8 inch plywood and used to be a cabinet door, and the cushion is a pillowcase filled with foam beads and stapled in place. The paint job is not what I hoped for, as the fresh red paint caused the ancient existing paint to bubble up and crack, but it is functional. Now instead of just enjoying my sweet chair by the fireplace, I can get some work done!

Things I have made, part 8

Three pine circles and acrylic paint. One of my first experiments with painting. It was fun.

One reason why English is the Best Language in the World

Not long ago, a brother of mine had the temerity to suggest that Spanish is better than English. (In his defense, he was learning Spanish at the time and was caught up in an understandable love affair with a new language). As examples to show the absurdity of that little heresy, I cited Shakespeare and the King James Version of the Bible. Here is another prime example of why English is the Best Language in the World.

The example is the word Atonement. Now, every language that I know of has a word for atonement. In Spanish it is expiacion – expiation, a Latin word that English has also borrowed.

There are several words in English that convey part of the meaning of the Atonement, with expiation and reconciliation being the most descriptive. To expiate is to compensate or to pay for something. To reconcile is to reestablish a close relationship between – literally, if you follow the Latin etymology, to bring people back to sit together again. We recognize both of these as important parts of the Atonement. But it takes at least two words to express that.



When William Tyndale was translating the Bible in the 1500’s, he felt that there was no sufficient word to express the concept of Atonement as it was found in Hebrew. So he invented a word – at-one-ment. When it is broken down, its meaning is quite clear. This word served to communicate the concepts of reconciliation and expiation. And what a wonderful word it is – two very simple English words with a latinate ending. (Tyndale also coined the words “Passover” and “scapegoat,” as well as phrases such as “let there be light,” “my brother’s keeper,” and “it came to pass,” and “gave up the ghost.”) You won’t find a more simple, elegant, and effective way of communicating those concepts in any other language that I know of.

Summary:

1) William Tyndale = extraordinary wordsmith and reformer

2) English = the Best Language in the World

The Word and wood

This is something I made as an illustration for a Sunday School class. What is it? Here is a hint: Mormon 9:12. Still not sure? Try D&C 20:18-21.

What can you eat with those?

In keeping with the utensil theme, I offer these examples of a spoon and fork. They are about eight inches long, made of basswood. The spoon in finished with paste wax, and the fork is unfinished. Given the size of these and the unwieldy proportions, I suppose they are best suited for giant spagetti.

Ugly things that I have made, part 1

This is a primitive fork I carved as a teenager. I don't know why I saved it. It was made from some cheap pine I found laying around the garage, most likely. My wife thinks it is cool. She is way too charitable about these things.

Things I have made, part 7

I made this necklace in high school. It originally had two beads, until Laughter suggested two more beads to make it look less phallic. Too right. It is made out of citrus wood. We had plenty of that. I finished it with wax.