Keep Your Tools Sharp

Humanity is something I contemplate often.  Who we are and how we live on this earth are discussed in places of worship, in capitol buildings, in courtrooms, in our homes, in story telling, and from wall street to main street.  We debate our own greatness from nearly every angle.  From our empathy to our dominion, and regarding our actions, we proselytize our achievements and our neglect with equal reverence.  A serial killer might be just as likely to get a feature film starring Hollywood Beau-Hunk as a civil rights hero.

I reached out to a boy the other day to ask him about his thoughts on the student walk outs.  Right, wrong, terror, freedom, dangerous, protection, tyranny, survival, or tragedy; however we see this case, its ours.  I just wanted to know his feelings on it.  A rhinoceros didn't design, manufacture, advertise, defend in war, take a safety class, sell at a pawn shop, or use bullet hurling weapons to kill his peers.  Although the last male white rhino did recently die.  A tree didn't contribute either.  Nor a horse.  This object is unequivocally a human issue.  It requires the full debate of every angle of our human perspective.   ...And this post is not about the gun debate.  Its simply about striving to become a better human.

There are several definitions often spoken regarding humanity.  We have lots of varying opinions about what defines us as human.

• God created us in His image
• We're self aware
• Opposable thumbs
• We wear pants
• Top of the food chain
• We pay for everything
• We govern ourselves
• We developed our super smart brains
• Prometheus gave us fire, or more modernly stated 'science'   ...and so on.

All of these are eligible definitions.  Every opinion matters because we are part of a global community all trying to make the world a better place.  Even though we aren't always right or in agreement about what is better, I believe in our better nature, and that our collective intentions are inherently well meaning.  I also believe in our carelessness, our glorious imperfection.

A safe, clean, and talented woodworker will have lots of different tools.  Some are for cutting.  Some are for connecting.  Some are for shaping.  Some are for finishing.  The woodworker needs to know what they are for, how to operate them safely and accurately, as well as knowing what creative ways they can be used for a newly devised idea.  The woodworker also knows its better to keep a clean shop between uses.

The same is true in all of life.

Humanity can be most simply defined by its unique, great, and powerful selection of tools and we must keep them sharp.  Dull tools don't serve their purpose properly.  From the list above:

• God's creation is a tool humans used to provide answers to the unknowable mysteries, as well as for guidance, comfort, and community.  Right or wrong, no other living creature worships, but humans.
• Our self awareness is a tool we use for identification making us unique from one another.  I'm JT, and you are not JT.  JT has a license to drive, social security and voter ID.  You might have those too, but they don't say JT.  I'm JT.
• Our opposable thumbs are tools for grasping objects that other living things cannot.
• Our pants are tools that protect our most treasured bits and pieces from weather, abrasion, and looky loos.
• Being at the top of the food chain is a tool to impose our dominion.  Sushi isn't survival.  Its delicacy.
• Our money is a tool we use to barter more amicably, measurably, and conveniently.
• Our governments are tools to organize law, and to negotiate with neighbors.  Pair this with money and the structure complicates itself exponentially to provide and to keep order.
• Our brains are tools for understanding libraries full of knowledge, our education a tool for exercise and expansion. 
• Fire is a tool for hospitality. Its shelter, and for cooking, and also for creating even more tools.

As humans we are most effective, most skilled, most safe, when we properly understand how to, when, where, and most importantly, why we use them.   Every time we humans fault in our responsibility in this dominion over all things, it is inevitably caused by the misuse of a tool that we've created.  Hiroshima.  Newtown.  Excessive chemical fertilizers.  Mortgage crisis.  The holocaust.  The great depression.  Oil spills.  ...and so on.

Healthy use on the other hand makes the world a better place.  Bartering caused frequent disputes.  Money resolved most of that.  Power is fought over violently, and it lifts dictators.  Democratic voting steers us toward a more sympathetic governance.  Religion can harbor charity.  Pants are nice too.  Please wear pants.

We misuse our tools sometimes. Many are honest mistakes.  Some are not.  Most misuses aren't as deeply tragic as the human failures I mentioned above.  But as you can see, proper use builds improvements, where misuse results in tragedy.

These meditations are about some of our tools we use at home.  I encourage you to think of everything as a tool that can be used correctly, or incorrectly.  Question yourself about safety, effectiveness, ethics, and organization of all of your tools.  As humans, holding dominion, it is our responsibility to do so.

Do I track my spending?

Did I buy the appropriate square footage to meet and not exceed my needs?

Do I understand the finer points of my loan repayment rules?

Do I use all the tools in the kitchen to enrich my meals?

Do I possess items in my home that don't get used?

Do I meet neighbors and develop allied relationships with them?

Do I sparingly drive my vehicle to places where I don't really need to go?

Do I know what happens to my refuse after it leaves my home?

Do I know what processes took place for me to attain the goods I use?

Do I know the phone numbers for my representatives, how about the services they provide?

Do I wear pants for fashion, or for purpose, or at all?

Do I know what a carbon footprint is?  Have I measured mine lately?

Do I ask questions of my religion to better myself, or am I preaching my beliefs from a position of righteousness?

Everyone is different, and there aren't exactly wrong answers.  The only wrong answer, is "yes I use this tool, and I don't even think about it because I don't care."  Contemplate selfishly, but contemplate globally as well.  It all matters.

Your answers to these very personal questions can lead to your time of unique personhood on this planet being more efficient, simpler, happier, and make you a far more valuable version of yourself, not on paper, but as a part of humanity.  Our ongoing survival as a species may depend on some of this too.  As a group of 7 billion the use or misuse of our tools will be our legacy. 

As an individual, it is rewarding in other ways to keep your tools sharp and keep them simple. 

Proper use builds a more meaningful and purposeful life, one that can afford greater adventures, deeper well connected relationships, profound love, better security, and fewer regrets, just to name a few.