The Maker Movement and Peace

One of the gifts of working in education is that I am privy to the latest ideas, research, and trends in how we cultivate young minds. I love learning, and as a parent, I am also quite personally invested in the way our society is shaping the next generation.

One such trend that we are seeing in education right now is the Maker Movement. Schools are creating “maker spaces” which are essentially workshops for kids to tinker with construction technique, robotics, modeling elements, and more—anything that students can do and make with their own hands is supported and encouraged in a maker space. In some ways, this is the resurgence of shop class or home economics, as kids are building things and baking and sewing once again. Research shows that the brain and the hands forge a strong connection, and those synapses really get firing when kids discover new concepts in a tactile way. 

I am convinced that humans like to make things because we are made in the image of the ultimate Maker. When I make a casserole or a Victorian Ballgown or a lego tower, I image my Creator with just a glimmer of his creative capacity. And as a creative, there is something quite fulfilling in working with my hands to craft, to make—especially in the moment when I can dot that final "i," sit back, and call it good.

Kenneth E. Bailey, in his book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, makes a striking observation in his discussion of the beatitudes:

“Peacemakers are different from peacekeepers and pacifists. Peacemakers work for healed relationships on all levels and will be called ‘children of God.’”

Bailey explains that the word used for “peacemaker” doesn’t appear in any other part of the Bible. It's a unique phrase that Jesus crafts during the sermon on the mount, captured by two Hebrew words to form a new idea. And while there are so many other words he could have used—peace giver, peace lover, peace promoter—he chooses to honor the “peacemaker."

In an age where everyone wants to #hashtag our way into revolution, we may have lost touch just a bit with what it means to be a maker. Maybe it’s time for us to get back out into a physical space, tinker with the tools and materials available to us, and see what it could look like to really make peace.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

—Ephesians 4:1-3