The Ugly Chair

March 1, 2023

It’s just a plain chair.

No, plain doesn’t describe it well enough. This wooden chair is heavy, blocky, completely lacking in artistry. The builder did not even attempt to add any curvature, just a little rounding of the edges.. I can’t imagine it at any dining room table, though it might look fitting to have it pulled up to a piece of plywood laying on top of sawhorses.

.

When my wife and I saw it on display at the estate sale, she couldn’t take her attention away from it. She knew we had to take it home. I rebelled. “That chair? What would we do with it?”

Every time I glanced at it after that, I grew more attracted to it. It was very, very plain. It was at least eighty years old, maybe even a century. Every joint was solid. There was not a shake or a creak to it. It was made to last, not made for beauty.

Maybe this was the first attempt at making a chair by some kid. It was not much more than boards fastened together, but here it was, decades later. I’ve spent many hours repairing pretty chairs, artful chairs, padded chairs. This one may never need another touch.

It sits on our barn porch now. At times I’ve piled heavy loads on it while I went back to close the barn door. The chair has held the other end of a board while I pulled a nail. I’ve sat in it, looking out over the yard while I contemplated how to approach my next project.

There is a place for beauty. There is a need for fun. My biggest need, I suppose, is for something that will always be there, sturdy, dependable. In truth, my Jesus is all of that to me.

“He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him.” Isaiah 53:2