"My family home is furnished with heavily carved, high-Victorian couches and chairs that showcase the woodcarver skill. I'll never forget the day I stood in an antique store, staring at a Shaker chair. I admired its simplicity and then looked at the price. I almost passed out. Six figures.When the store's owner came over, I asked why the chair was so expensive. It was so plain it almost made you want to apologize. The antique dealer said, 'In fancy, florid, Gothic furniture like yours, the flaws of the material and the flaws of the artist don't show. The defects and mistakes are covered up by the ornamentation. But when you look at the simple lines of this Shaker chair, you can see very quickly whether there are any mistakes or defects. There is no margin of error. Only a master artist can make a Shaker chair.' It's that simple. We need to strip away the fancies and embleshments. We need to call upon the skill it takes to carve the simple. Discipleship is the process through which we strip away all that impedes the love and mercy and grace of Christ through us to the world." (Leonard Sweet. Viral, pg38, 2012)
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