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Building For Strength…and Beauty

June 24, 2013 by S. D. Smith 18 Comments

This is the first of a short series of short posts I’m calling Block Pile Meditations. Like Adam before me, I named them that because I couldn’t think of anything better. –Sam

—–   —–   —–
In our family, we play a game with wooden blocks called “Castle Wars.” Maybe you do something similar. In short, it involves building opposing towers and secreting little figures (lego men, whatever) inside. When both towers (or more) are ready, we wage full-scale war with various balls. Victory is achieved when all the men inside your enemy’s castle are toppled.

It’s fun. We’ve played it a thousand times. As you might guess, the more fortress-like you can make your tower, the better chance you have of winning the game. The ethics of the game for kids might be a little questionable. Just what am I training my kids for?

Well, I hope it’s not all bad. When I build my castles, I try to make them look arresting, majestic –something beyond the utility of survival. Architecture is theology, I think. Beauty is a high, noble aim. This is a value we are determined to communicate in as many ways as possible. The results are often mixed.

With the enormous pressures of time that come along with modern family life, it’s pretty easy just to factor-out the impractical.

Is this food nutritious, or handy? OK, let’s eat it. Is this an item we need? No? OK, get rid of it. Do we need this for survival? Yes? OK, let’s get it.

I get being practical. I get being thrifty. I get avoiding materialism. But we are more than beasts made to survive. We are written into a story where peacocks have feathers like that. We’re born into a world with a night sky full of stars and a moon hung just so for poets.

We live in a world where trees spread out their branches in a kind of graceful glory which, if it were not so common, would mesmerize at every sighting. We live in Joyce Kilmer’s world, where “only God can make a tree.”

Sure, trees are useful. There’s wood for sheltering homes, for warming fires, and lots of practical stuff. But what else?

Ornate, carved pipes. Statues, cricket bats, guitars, and whatever else you can imagine fashioned for playing and pleasure of every kind. Flowers bloom to delight the eyes, fruit the mouth. Trees keep a secret supply of  sap for syrup (which contains a rather high amount of sugar –a word that starts with s and is fun to say). There are limbs from which to fix tire-swings and a thousand other happy things. And then there’s my favorite reason for trees: as things to look at.

Oh, and wooden blocks. Blocks for Castle Wars.

Remember that the castles built for utility (for the practical purpose of defensive strength alone) are more successful? Well, sometimes the greater vision of life fights its way into even the very practical concerns of Castle Wars.

My then five-year-old son surprised me one day when he made an announcement as we started building. “Daddy, I’m building my castle for strength and beauty.”

Practically wonderful. Like a tree.

Build on.

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S. D. Smith
S. D. Smith
S. D. Smith is the award-losing author of The Green Ember Series. Sam loves chocolate chip cookies, soccer, and knights who kill dragons.
S. D. Smith
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Filed Under: Faith & Vision, Fostering Imagination Tagged With: Blockpile Meditations

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Comments

  1. Carey says

    June 24, 2013 at 6:29 am

    I love this. I love the message here. What a beautifully written way to solidify this concept for us as parents. Thank you.

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 24, 2013 at 6:07 pm

      I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for the encouraging words.

      Reply
  2. Peter B says

    June 24, 2013 at 3:20 pm

    Beautiful, extravagant but not verbose — like a good castle. Keep writing, my friend. Please keep writing.

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 24, 2013 at 6:08 pm

      Thanks, pal. OK, will do. Pray for me.

      Reply
  3. Jodi @ Curious Acorn says

    June 24, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    Amen and THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I enjoy what you write, even if you hate-on beautiful peas. 🙂

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 24, 2013 at 8:29 pm

      We will have to have an agreement about our disagreement on peas. We’ll call it the…wait for it…Peas Accord.

      Thank you for the kind and encouraging words!

      Reply
      • Jodi @ CuriousAcorn says

        June 25, 2013 at 10:17 am

        All I am saying…is give peas a chance

        Reply
        • S.D. Smith says

          June 25, 2013 at 10:50 am

          You win! 🙂

          Reply
  4. Brenda Branson says

    June 24, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    Strength and beauty just sounds more delightful than “utility” doesn’t it? I know utility has its place, but probably not in God’s home where I plan to move to sometime in the future. Good job Sam, both in writing and parenting.

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 24, 2013 at 8:29 pm

      Always grateful for your encouragement, Brenda, my friend.

      Reply
  5. Judy says

    June 24, 2013 at 8:59 pm

    This is wonderful – to train a child to see and love ‘beauty and strength’ first (your castle), and for him to then create his own. The mark of The Maker in both of you.

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 25, 2013 at 10:48 am

      Thanks, Judy.

      Reply
  6. James Witmer says

    June 25, 2013 at 11:58 am

    I get being practical. I get being thrifty. I get avoiding materialism. But we are more than beasts made to survive. We are written into a story where peacocks have feathers like that. We’re born into a world with a night sky full of stars and a moon hung just so for poets.

    Sam, I need this reminder. And thank you for writing it with both strength and beauty. The medium and the message unite.

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 26, 2013 at 11:30 am

      Thank you, my brother.

      Reply
  7. Loren Eaton says

    June 25, 2013 at 8:18 pm

    But we are more than beasts made to survive. We are written into a story where peacocks have feathers like that. We’re born into a world with a night sky full of stars and a moon hung just so for poets.
    All things richly to enjoy, eh, Sam?

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 26, 2013 at 11:30 am

      Yessir, indeed.

      Reply
  8. Julie @ Wife, Mother, Gardener says

    June 29, 2013 at 11:26 pm

    Beautifully said… and encouraging too.

    Keep writing, Sam! The world needs more beautiful truth in it!!

    “Let those in Christ whose hands paint worlds, whose tongues limn
    loveliness, whose ears hear astral strains – let them make, and make,
    and make.”~ Andrew Peterson

    Reply
    • S.D. Smith says

      June 30, 2013 at 4:05 pm

      Thank you, Julie.

      Reply

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