It has been a little over two years since my father’s death. And I am only now beginning to put things in order, inside and outside myself.
When such a person passes away, it is often said that they have left a great void.
Instead, my father managed to fill it all, he left no space between his teachings, his failings, his spirit, and his example.
At home is a room full of his work tools. Piled up for years, some are resting on the wooden counter, dusty and untidy. Others are rusty, dented or malfunctioning. But all of them, for some strange reason, seem to be useful.
One day, away from home and while we were talking about something else, my friend Gabriel told me, “If you have a hammer in your hand, you will only see nails; if you have a hammer and a screwdriver, you will start to see nails and screws, and so on (…)“.
Here are the words I could not find to describe the profound simplicity of the teaching I received. I have inherited some valuable tools, and there are many.
Now I just have to use them.
On the workbench, there are tools for fixing, measuring, decorating, cutting, painting, beating, sanding, knocking down and who knows how many other perspectives I still cannot grasp.
I, for the time being, am rearranging them.
And I am sure they will be, in some way, useful.
