Be Fearless

Has anyone used a whip saw? Neither have I, but my dad and his brothers did. It is a long saw with a handle on each end. I’m sure you have seen them used in movies. My Uncle Grover said, “It is all we used to cut down trees.” My Uncle worked hard all his life. He even built the beautiful house he lives in today. I’d say he is fearless.

Lumbee Indians

My ancestors, the Lumbee Indians, were different than other Native American tribes because of their early contact with Europeans. Early on, they incorporated the life styles of the English people they befriended from the first English colony in the “new world.” They spoke the King’s English; they wore English clothing; they built houses like the English.

When the English colonists arrived on Roanoke Island in 1587, they brought tools with them from England. However, to sustain themselves in the “new world,” they needed broad and narrow hoes; broad axes and pickaxes; handsaws and whipsaws; hammers, shovels, and spades; tools for boring, drilling, and chiseling wood; hatchets and grindstones; and of course, every type of nail imaginable.

Tops Or Bottoms?

They brought home building techniques from England as well. They used axes to chop and trim the trees from round to square. Then, they fit these pieces together so that they became a frame, giving shape and strength to the house. They cut trees and split the wood to make thin boards called clapboards, which they nailed together over the frame of the house. Clapboard, a word not commonly use today, is a long, flat piece of wood with edges that horizontally overlap to cover the exterior of a building. Today, many houses are covered with vinyl siding that simulates the look of a wood frame house covered in clapboards. The construction of clapboards is the most interesting part of the process. Without power equipment, how did our ancestors do this? The answer is… with a whipsaw and a lot of hard work.

The English did not invent the technology. Historians trace the technique back to the Romans. The process begins by first digging a saw pit. A log is secured over the pit. Two men, called sawyers, work the whipsaw. One sawyer gets in the hole and grabs the handle on the bottom of the saw while the other grabs the handle up on top. Guess who’s job is easier? Correct, the top sawyer’s job was to guide the cut and pull the saw back up after each pass. So, the bottom sawyer’s job was to worked with gravity and pull the saw down through the wood making the cut. Tops is definitely better!

Fearless

These days, it is easy to be discouraged. When we wake up and are faced with the “what ifs,” we need to pray to not be afraid. Do you know that “Do not fear” is written in the Bible 365 times? That is one “Do not fear” for every day of the year…a daily reminder from God to live each day without fear. 

I admire my Uncle Grover for what he has accomplished in life. . . and because of the hope we share in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we have “the hope of salvation as a helmet” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Let’s put on our helmets and act like people with hope. Let’s be fearless.

Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear

If you like Be Fearless, you should also read Victorious Living.