Hands to Work, Hearts to God

I grew up with Old Sturbridge Village and all its wonderful old world charm, so its no surprise that after I moved to Kentucky I was on the look out for something to fill the void. I found Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. I've been a handful of time in the past year and love taking pictures there. Everything from animals to artifacts offers itself as subjects to the creative eye. And on this trip I found a few surprises.

I suppose it was God's way of reminding me to recognize the details and not overlook the small wonders He puts in my way.

Now that the official calendar Christmas season has ended the refrain "Let heaven and nature sing" is fresh in my head. While walking around the village I had a special eye out for nature singing. I personally enjoyed watching a giant highland cow soak up the late December sun on a cold afternoon.

Now, I've taken the guided tour of the Center Family House at the village enough times to be well aware that the theology of the Shakers was more than a hair off gospel, but there is one part that was bang on, "Hands to Work, Hearts to God". They meant, your work is your worship...doing everything as onto the Lord. Just walking through the buildings you can see how much this group of people believed that and saturated their life with organized and purposeful beauty. A stair well, wooden pegs, a gate...all for the gory of God.