O Come Let Us Assemble

I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone.You need to know how to be alone and not defined by another person. Olivia Wilde

We don’t get a lot of snow in Western Washington in the lower elevations along the Puget Sound. When we do, it generally falls in January and February. However, a few weeks ago there were snow flurries here where I live, and heavier snow storms were wreaking havoc up in the mountain passes. While I don’t usually worry about shoveling snow by hand, last year I found the snow wetter and heavier than normal. It was what is often referred to as “widow-maker snow,” and I am at an age where that certainly feels a lot more prophetic than poetic.

Consequently, I drove around to our local hardware and big box stores and discovered, much to my dismay, that others had been quicker on the draw and scarfed up all the decently priced snow blowers that had been in stock. That meant I had to order mine online and have it delivered, which is what I did.

I knew it would have to be assembled, but I never worry about things like that. I’m not exactly a mechanical genius, but I do know how to read instructions and watch educational videos. I know the difference between a sledge hammer and a screw driver (one drives screws in a LOT faster), so I never approach the assemblage of goodies with fear or trepidation. 

I do, however, approach such tasks with caution, for it seems I have a smattering of dyslexia when it comes to reading diagrams. I simply cannot convert a two dimensional drawing into a three dimensional activity. I also have a knack for always (and I do mean “always”) putting things together backwards or reversed if that option is possible. The snow blower was no exception. I attached the handles quickly. What could be simpler than four bolts and their corresponding knobs?

Silly question! The middle handle has a “guide” for a rod which, as I discovered, I’d placed wrong-side-down. OK, it was a quick fix, but still a typical mistake. Then I attached the top handle, only to learn I’d missed a step, and then after correcting that error, discerned that I had installed that handle upside down and backwards, too. Uff da!

Oh well. I took things in stride. I know my skills and proclivities, and so things like this simply don’t cause me any grief. On the contrary, they cause me to chuckle. It isn’t an “I don’t care,” kind of laugh. I do care. But I don’t take myself so seriously that I can’t enjoy the challenge of overcoming my own shortcomings and completing a task for which I may not be well suited. 

I like the pride that accompanies an accomplishment (not to be confused with the pride of one’s ego), and the victory is even sweeter when I know I am having the last laugh over illustrators and translators whose sole goals are seemingly to thwart people like me with pictures and instructions that often make no sense! As young Kevin MacCallister says, “Take that, you filthy animals!”

There will likely be a lot of assembling taking place over the next few weeks as folks find themselves opening packages marked “Some Assembly Required.” Don’t sweat it. Slow and steady wins the race. It is, in some ways, a metaphor of the season, isn’t it?

Jesus came into the world with some assembly required. Joseph and Mary had to plan and assemble a trip to Bethlehem. Angels assembled over the hills, singing their carols to shepherds who then had to relocate, assembling around a manger. Magi bearing gifts (none of which required assembling, we should note) traveled across moors and mountains “following yonder star,” assembled in Jerusalem, then in Bethlehem, then skedaddled before Herod could have them or the Holy Family disassembled!

No matter what your holiday gatherings look like this year, know that life comes with some assembly required. It did for Jesus; it does for us. May God bless you whenever, wherever, and with whomever you assemble here in these, our most blessed valleys. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and (soon) Happy New Year!

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)