Jonathan's Corner
(Search & Sitemap)
> Writing >
Longer Fiction >
A Cord of Seven Strands >
Chapter Eight
Skip Back
Previous
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Next
Skip Forward
Printer-Friendly Version
She stepped onto the construction site, and looked. The building's frame was almost complete, and workers were beginning to lay conduit and 4x8" sheets for the floors.
A young man -- short, pale, wiry, and with sweaty black hair showing from under his headgear -- walked over. "This site is dangerous. You need to wear a bump cap."
"A what?"
"A hard hat. Like I'm wearing. C'mon, I'll take you to get one."
They walked along in silence. "Penny for your thoughts," he said.
"Oh, I was just thinking about a book I'm reading."
"What's the title?"
"I'm not sure it's something a construction worker would recognize, let alone read," she said.
"Try me," he said.
"Addicted to Mediocrity: 20th Century Christians and the Arts, by Franky Schaeffer."
"Aah, yes. Like Why Catholics Can't Sing, only better. I liked, and wholly agree with, the part about the deleterious effects of pragmatism. Franky's father wrote some pretty good books as well; have you read How Shall We Then Live: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture? The history of art is summarily traced there. Modern Art and the Death of a Culture is another good title on that topic."
Her jaw dropped. "How long have you been a construction worker?"
"Only a few months. I've worked in a number of other professions -- truck driver, child care worker, and firefighter, to name a few, and enjoyed them all. Why do you ask?"
She did not answer the question, but said, "Forgive me for asking this, and I know I'm breaking all sorts of social rules, but why on earth are you working as a construction worker? Why aren't you working as a software engineer for instance?"
He smiled and said, "Well, I do program in my spare time; I've written a couple of applications in Java. But that's not answering your question."
He stopped walking and closed his eyes in thought for a moment, and then said, "I suppose there are a two reasons, a lesser and a greater. For the lesser -- have you read Miyamoto Musashi's A Book of Five Rings?"
"No; I don't think I've heard of it."
"A Book of Five Rings is considered by many to be the canonical book on martial arts strategy. It--"
"You're a martial artist, too?" she said, her jaw dropping further.
"No, but martial arts embody a way of thinking, and that way of thinking is beneficial to learn. A Book of Five Rings was written by Miyamoto Musashi, the greatest swordsman in Japanese history, perhaps the greatest swordsman in world history. The book itself is cryptic and deep, and is used as a guidebook by some businessmen and some computer techs, though I came to know about it by a different route. After a certain point, Musashi would enter duels armed with only wooden swords, and defeat master swordsmen armed with the Japanese longsword and shortsword.
"One of the pivotal statements is, 'You must study the ways of all professions.' And Musashi did. In the book, he likened swordsmanship to building a house, and he was an accomplished artist; he left behind some of Japan's greatest swords, paintings, and calligraphy. Not to mention a lot of good stories. Anyway, his legendary stature as a swordsman came in large part through his extensive study of disciplines that are on the surface completely unrelated to swordplay.
"I had not encountered that book yet in college, but (though my degree is in physics) I studied in subjects all across the sciences and the humanities. And I learned more outside the classroom than inside."
The woman closed her mouth.
"Now I am, in a sense, moving to another phase of my education, learning things I couldn't learn in an academic context."
By this point, they had reached a van.
"And your other reason?" she said.
"My other reason? It's work. Honest, productive, valuable work. It may be less valued in terms of money, and I may eventually settle down as a software engineer -- I've gotten a few offers, by the way. But I am right now building a building that will house books, for people to read and children to dream by. It will give me pleasure to walk in these doors, check out a book, walk by a little girl, watch her smile at the pictures in a picture book, and know that I helped make it possible. Surely that smile is worth my time." He reached into the van, and pulled out a bump cap. "Here's how you adjust the strap to fit your head. The cap should rest above your head, like so, rather than being right on it. That gives the straps some room to absorb the shock if something falls on you from above."
The woman, looking slightly dazed, extended her hand and said, "We've talked, but I don't think I've introduced myself properly. My name is Deborah."
The man shook her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Deborah. My name is Jaben."
Jonathan's Corner
(Search & Sitemap)
> Writing >
Longer Fiction >
A Cord of Seven Strands >
Chapter Eight
Skip Back
Previous
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Next
Skip Forward
Printer-Friendly Version