Today is the shortest day of 2008. That is a fact. One that is not subject to debate or perspective. Not even Fox News or the NYTimes would take a contrarian position and argue that the Winter Solstice is a hoax. And though I suppose some folks could argue that today is the longest night of the year that position simply confirms the shortest day assertion. I have spent most of my career working in the fields of manufacturing and technology development where there are many truths that get replaced over time. Back in the mid-90s I oversaw the purchase and installation of a computer controlled machining center at the small company where I worked as a manufacturing engineer. The machine held 21 tools at one time and I was able to load complete machining programs using a laptop and a cable. Work that used to require 10 different machines, a setup man and a machinist could now be done by a 20-something engineer with a laptop as the machine whirred and whipped around with speeds beyond the capability of a manual mill. That evolution in technology changed the truth about manufacturing, machining and employment. Or did it? The company’s model shop was about fifty feet from that new CNC machine and that was a place where three skilled craftsman made prototypes of new products. They milled, drilled, tapped and ground parts out of pieces of unformed metal or wood. My new technology did not change their ability; and their truths about machining informed my approach to problems. The new truth in the factory was actually an evolution of a trade and not the development of a new truth. The same principles of metal cutting still applied to my fancy machine. I learned that fact by breaking tools, producing parts of poor quality and then asking the skilled machinists to help me figure out what went wrong. And they did. Their understand of the nature of metal forming, the stresses and speeds required to produce great parts and the types of tooling needed to yield a smooth finish all applied to my new technologically advanced machine.
I sit here on this Winter Solstice thinking about how we have conquered the shortest day of the year by providing artificial light. But the truth of the solstice remains. Like my experience in that small factory in New York – the core truth is not replaced or changed by the new discovery. Sloppy language proclaims new discoveries or a new methods when in fact the “new” idea is an incremental evolution of the old or a combination of existing truths used to solve a nuanced problem. Correcting that language is more than a minor detail because language has the power to divide resources and retard progress. Whether in work, education, public policy, health or finance, now is not a time to call into question every truth in order to draw lines that divide. Nor is it a time to create new divisions in order to hold on to a particular way or methodology. New ideas need the support and wisdom of tested truths. Imagine if the banking industry had applied that policy to their lending practices of the past decade. New does not replace old so much as it builds on the story of what already exists. I recall meeting with a group of the faithful in Seattle – part of a new community of faith that was just in its infancy. During a gathered time we gave thanks for all of the faithful who had gone before us telling a similiar story, cultivating the spiritual ground and establishing a history on which we set our contribution. We recognized then that all that had gone before us left a mark. Some of those marks were cuts that needed to be healed; others were artful expressions worthy of admiration. Ignoring the truths of the past was not an option. Demonizing all that went before and all that was not of us in the moment was not an option. Acknowleding the journey up to that point and seeking the Shalom of those around us was the right course. I am hopeful that the trials facing our nation and world have the potential to draw us back to an understanding of continuity, incremental change and generational progression.
We need the urgency of the activist, the conviction of the devout, the capacity of the intellectual, the practicality of the tradesman, the vision of the educator, the creativity of the artist, the innovation of the scientist, the efficiency of the engineer, the leadership of the statesman, the nurture of the healer and the liturgy of the clergy to work diligently at their craft without spending energy defending their right to existence or the value of their contribution. I am grateful that today is brief so that my hope does not have time to be extinguished.
