The speaker reflects on conversations about the nature of man and clarifies that while man is an animal, humans have a conscience. They discuss the distinction between craftsmen, artisans, and artists, using the speaker's stepfather Bryce as an example. Bryce was a creative individual who played music professionally and made crafts to supplement his income. The speaker recalls their experiences at craft fairs as a child and how art and craftsmanship played a significant role in their life. They mention making and selling craft items, such as candles and leather pouches, and participating in craft fairs as part of a commune. The speaker also talks about their love for music and playing drums and guitar. They recall attending fairs in different locations and the joy they derived from the music, crafts, and food. The speaker shares an anecdote about working at a food trailer during a fair and how it sparked their interest in cooking. They connect their passion for craftsmanship and art to
Episode 25. Last week, I got a couple of good conversations going, mostly good. A couple of people mentioned something I said with regards to the nature of man. I said, man's not an animal. Now, obviously, maybe not obviously, but I know a man is an animal. I mean, and I cited Romans 8.1 when I said that. So, the point I was making is that we all have a conscience. And most of us don't typically violate our conscience.
So, that was my point. And yet, I know that humanity and men are animals. I know what they think. I know because I am one, right? So, I know what I think. I know the thoughts that go through my head. So, it's what you do with those thoughts. It's how you manifest reality out of those thoughts. Do you shelve them, put them aside, and ignore them? Or do you act on them? So, that's what I was referring to.
The story stuff I want to get into now is back when I was 10 years old. It might have started when I was 9. Bryce started living with us, my stepfather, in Alabama. I mentioned before that Bryce was an artistic and creative kind of a person. So, there's a distinction between what a craftsman, an artisan, and an artist do. So, a craftsman would be somebody that works with their hands. An artisan would be somebody that works with their head.
This is an old saying. It's not 100% accurate. The debate goes on. But an artist is somebody that works with both their hands and their head. That's just a way of setting up the discussion or the talk now. Bryce was a creative individual. He was, I would say, an artist. He is an artist. He's maybe an artisan when it comes to some aspects of his creative ability and maybe a craftsman in some aspects. And yet, for a lot of the stuff that he did, he was both creative and crafty.
So, artistic. He was artistic. He was a professional musician when he came to live with us. I don't think he was paid that well. I don't know what he was paid. He played for the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He supplemented his income by carpentry, stonemasonry, and craft. He made sandcast candles, and we went to craft fairs and sold them throughout Alabama. Not just in Birmingham, but the surrounding area. We would spend weekends at these craft fairs. Sometimes they were just in town at a mall or in a park or something like that, but often we would have to go out and camp for a day or two.
Just remembering some of those experiences, because that actually translated as well into the Canadian experience. The commune financed itself by craft, artisan work, and artistry. The thing I wanted to talk about, there's a couple of times in Alabama I remember going to these craft fairs. At that time, I wasn't producing anything myself, so I was nine or ten years old. I can remember going and just enjoying the time. If you've been to a craft fair or an arts and craft fair, they're still all over the place.
I think Courtney Comox has the Filberg Festival, which is very close. Maybe a little too organized, but very close to the kind of thing that I'm talking about, the kind of fairs that we used to go to. They were not just craft. It wasn't like a flea market, street market, craft thing, where people made things that were pointless, useless, or whatever. Grandma's crocheting doilies or potholders or whatever. But it was art. It was higher quality product, useful product, or artistic.
It fulfilled an artistic need. Art is a need, whether people acknowledge that or not. We need beauty around us. It fulfills us. It's part of what makes the human experience different from other creatures. It's the ability to create and make beautiful things. Every Christmas when we decorate our tree, since my mom died anyway, I've got, even before that, because I made some craft ornaments for our tree, similar to ones that Bryce had exchanged candles for. We still have them.
There's little drums that are made. They're quite ornate, made out of cardboard and velvet and felt and beads and stuff like that. Balls that are made out of Styrofoam balls that are wrapped in velvet ribbon and really, really pretty stuff, quality made. This is from the 60s, and we still have it. We still have these craft pieces. So I remember clearly that when we got those, I remember the fair. It was in a park or in a field, a park setting, and I can remember there was peanuts growing around.
They had gone wild. I don't know if they were initially wild, but there was peanuts throughout this little forest. Peanuts are not actually a nut. They're a lagoon. They grow along the ground, like on vines. I can remember picking peanuts and eating raw peanuts and taking them back and roasting them and stuff like that. It's one of the memories that I have of being a child. There was another fair in Alabama that I remember quite well.
I began to look for ways for me to capitalize on the craft fair experience, and we were in this mall. It was in Birmingham, and I can remember the mall. I'm not going to say the name because it might not have been the mall that I'm thinking of. The craft fair was down one arm or leg of the mall. The other parts of the mall weren't part of the craft fair. So at an entry to the mall on the opposite end of where the craft fair was, there was this machine that you put a quarter in or whatever, and it blew up a helium balloon, and you got this balloon with a ribbon on it.
I took a bunch of those balloons, and I drew faces on them and then took them back to our table where we were selling the candles. I sold them. I marked them up 100%, so I bought them for, whatever, 25 cents and sold them for 50 cents. Then people all over the mall were carrying these balloons that I had taken in different colored felt markers and whatever, drew faces on them, and they were buying them, and their kids were walking around with them.
I'm sure when they got to the other end of the mall and saw the machine, they were perhaps a little miffed, but whatever. This is bizarre, but when Elton John came out with that song, and it has the line in it that Jesus blows up balloons all day, and so it's about this kid that blows up cartoon balloons, and he sells these balloons. When that song came out, I was probably well into my teens by then, but it took me right back to that time in that mall selling cartoon balloons.
I didn't take on myself the identity of Jesus or anything, but it was an interesting sort of reflection. As we moved on to the property and all of these craft people, which I mentioned before, somebody did batik and leather work and wood carving and bamboo flutes and bead work, and I developed the skill to do almost all of those things. I carved, I carved soapstone, I made pipes and chillums, if you know what a chillum is, and I carved wood.
I made all kinds of stuff out of wood carving. I learned to make bamboo flutes. There was a Japanese fellow, which I mentioned before. I learned to make flutes from him. He was a phenomenal artist. The flutes were more of a moneymaker. I made pouches, leather pouches and watch straps and sold them. When we went to a craft fair as a commune, we shared a booth or a table or a couple of booths or tables, and we had quite an array of different craft to sell and art.
Craft and art. It was an experience. I loved that lifestyle of traveling and listening to music and playing music. I didn't actually start playing. I started playing guitar, I think, when I was 12. I didn't actually really get into it until I was 13. It was after I became a Christian that I began actually playing guitar regularly. Up to that point, I played drums, and it gave me a sense of rhythm. At jams, I would often play drums, and we had a lot of jam sessions.
I can remember very specifically going to fairs up in Courtney Comox in the 70s. There was always music, and there was always craft, and there was always food. I can remember going to Duncan or Ladysmith. One of the most clear fairs took place in Chilliwack, and it was called the Renaissance Fair. It was a long weekend fair, and it was an amazing time there. Part of the reason I remember it is because the fair organizers put out a package of photographs, and writings, and things, mementos, I guess you'd call them, things to stimulate your memory about that fair.
But there was other things, too. I actually made a lot of money at that fair. I had flutes, and leather pouches, and beadwork. I made quite a bit of cash. I already had this desire for craft, and it instilled in me this, I'm going to say entrepreneurial period or attitude, right, mentality. When I was there also, in Chilliwack, there was corn, so it was in the fall. There was a couple of places that were selling corn on the cob.
There was one food truck, a food trailer, where they sold hamburgers and french fries, and they had corn on the cob. I went to them, and I said, look, I'll work for food, because we didn't eat a lot of hamburgers and stuff. We ate a lot of beans and rice. I went in there, and I started just at the window taking orders. Then, I can't remember exactly what happened. The guy that ran it, or the husband and wife, or the guy in the partnership, or whoever it was, they wanted to go out somewhere and ask me if I could run the kitchen.
Then they taught me how to use the grill and make hamburgers. I loved that. That instilled in me this desire to cook. I already had it. I was already cooking at home on the range in the commune, but it gave me a real—I really enjoyed doing the cooking part. As I was examining that about me, this crafty, craftsmanship thing, this desire to produce craft and art, I mean, music as art. Even this is art. I went on and became a carpenter.
I worked with my stepfather, Bryce, his dad, Paul. Through Paul, I actually got probably the most cabinet-making experience that I had. I did some with Bryce, but mostly of that came with Paul. It was old school. You set up a table saw in the house, and you built the cabinets there in the house. It wasn't European-style modular kitchens. I remember Paul at one point. We were working on Mewburn's place here in Qualicum Beach. It was Bink's charity.
She lived in Victoria at that time, Cherry, and Bob Mewburn. Bink's died quite a few years ago, but they gave us the job. It was good money. We got paid cash weekly pretty well. I was probably 19 at that time, or 20, 21 maybe, 20, 21. I was working with Paul, my grandfather, Bryce's father. He commented on how long it was taking me to do something. I said, yeah, I just want it to be perfect. He said, there's this point where you have to allow time to influence what you're doing.
He said, you have to find the balance between time, because people are paying you, and the perfection, the craft, the art. It was a hard thing for me. I was somewhat of a perfectionist, and it changed the way that I view things. I still remember it, obviously. Then later, when I started my own business, at first, I wanted just to make furniture and solid wood cabinetry and furniture. I couldn't make a living doing that. People want the product.
They just don't want to pay for the product, typically. I worked my way into being a kitchen guy, a cabinet guy. Sometimes I would get employees that are employers that wanted the higher-end product. They didn't just want boxes cut out and put together. They wanted art. They wanted craft. Even in this production here, I still feel like I'm cutting the quality. I'd rather have a higher quality than I'm putting out a product, as far as the song goes, especially.
But even this, I'd like to have better equipment, a studio. I would like for it to be soundproof and have quality sound reproduction. It's just time, money. Part of that desire is intrinsic desire. When the Israelites came out, and God wanted them to build his tabernacle and the ark, if you've never read the Bible, I talk about these stories, and I try to explain them, because I know a lot of people that are listening to my stories have never read the Bible.
I hope I'm making it interesting, and I'm hoping that you would actually pick up the book and read it, because it is very interesting. Sometimes it's boring. God anointed, so he picked certain men and gave them a power, I still have a cough, of the Holy Spirit to produce art, craft. And they produced all of the utensils for the tabernacle, and all of the tent of the tabernacle, the tent of worship, and the Holy of Holies, and the laver, and the altar, and the candlesticks, and the incense stands, and all the tools that they needed.
And they were all crafted precisely. God designed it and put the design into the craftsman's mind, and told Moses what he wanted, what he wanted in every aspect for the tabernacle. I feel like, even in me, that there's this desire to produce a quality product, and I want to do it as unto God. These are things that people can't maybe understand when I say stuff like this, but I want to lay my life down in front of God and go, this is it, I'm doing the best I can, and I want it to be pleasing to you.
And part of it is, you know, it's not that God is an ego. God's desire is for us, and because he created us, and he made us in his image, and he created us for a purpose, and the purpose is to be his children, to be his family, his sons and daughters, and, you know, it's called a bride at times, the bride of Christ. It's an intimate relationship. Then you have this desire to want to give the best I can.
And in my life, oh my gosh, I failed horribly. I fail at that all the time, giving the people that I love my best, even giving God my best. That's something that we can look at at some point, you know, perhaps guilt-ridden. Why don't I do better? There's a point in Scripture where it talks about, in the last days, the desire for the believer to hear from God the Father, God the Creator, well done, good and faithful servant, well done, well done, you did well.
And that's sort of a motivation, a drive, for everything that I do. And yet, like I said, I fall short. I hope that even now, in my mid-60s, that I can get better. And in a lot of ways, I have the opportunity to get better. I'm not financially independent. I will probably never be able to retire, like completely retire. I still have to make money because of the way that I live my life. The career I chose, and it's a hot and cold career, and investments that I made, any kind of investments I made, they got used up in the slow times, you know, just to keep the family going, keep me going.
And also, the mind that I have, that I can sit for hours and just think, just think about stuff, just meditate. And that's, in the material world, that's unproductive time. In my spiritual life, it's extremely valuable time. And so finding the balance between that, and like I'm putting time into this project right now, but I'm going to have to produce. I'm going to have to either make craft like that. I've thought about that, making craft or art, and going to craft fairs again.
Like, I enjoy the lifestyle. Maybe I'll do that. And not have to be in the shop and dealing with people's peculiarities. When you work in somebody's house and you're building their kitchen, it's one of the higher priced up items or projects in a house, and people are picky. You know, they're picky about everything. They want the best price, and they want the best product, and it's always this finding that balance, right? It's rare that I get somebody that just says, you just design it and do it.
But it happens. You know, so you get that creative ability in there, like, here's my budget. Let's just do this. Just give me what you can for the budget, and then we design according to their budget. That's the best way to do it. But craft, I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking building up my shop so it would work in the craft market. I always go back to God, and I always go back to glorifying God, and, you know, some of these podcasts I find really choppy because once I start editing them, they're chopped up, and I don't get everything said right, and that's why I comment on the thing at the beginning this time.
But there's other stuff. There's always stuff. Like, if you have any questions about the stuff I say or something that doesn't seem right, well, fire me a message. Leave a comment in the YouTube, if it's YouTube, or hit me up on Messenger or Facebook. I'm on all of the platforms. I'm on X, I'm on Instagram, WhatsApp, whatever, however. Just look me up somehow. If you can't find me, get in touch with me. An email is attached to the file when you get it.
If not, I'll have to figure that stuff out. Anyway, so that's 25, and we'll do a song. And we'll see you next time, 26. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. In all my trials I have learned that my God, He is faithful and He is true. He is faithful and true. In all my days as a new man I've seen God's glory come to those who wait. God's time is right, His glory great. God's time is right, and His glory great.
In all the days I've spent on this planet I know one thing, one thing for sure, that's God's love. He'll not leave or forsake the ones that know. I say now, look to the skies, for He's coming back in glory. Look to the skies, He's coming back again. Look to the skies, for He's coming back in glory. Look to the skies, for He's coming back, I know. Coming back in glory, coming back in glory. Now tell me one thing, do you think you're ready? If Christ came right now to take all His home, would you be one to go? Or would you stay? Tell me, are you one, are you one that belongs to the King? He gave His promise, I know He'll stand by it.
To come and take us all, His loved ones home, the word says, no man knows the time. But you can tell, I can tell, when it's getting close, and it's getting close. So now, look to the skies, for He's coming back in glory. Look to the skies, He's coming back again. Look to the skies, for He's coming back, I know now. Look to the skies, He's coming back in glory. Coming back in glory, coming back in glory.
I'm saying, look to the skies, for He's coming back in glory. Look to the skies, He's coming back in glory. Look to the skies, for He's coming back real soon now. Look to the skies, He's coming back, I know. Look to the skies, He's coming back like lightning. Look to the skies, He's coming back like thunder, yeah. Look to the skies, for He's coming back in glory. Look to the skies, for He's coming back, I know.
Coming back like lightning. Coming back like thunder, yeah. He's coming back in glory, yeah. He's coming back.
