What do sanctification, basketball, playing guitar, and plumbing have in common? And why does our special guest have “ora et labora” tattooed on his hands? On today’s episode of Canterbury Trails, C. Jay Engel and Jared Lovell talk to plumber, writer, and postulant in the Reformed Episcopal Church, Nathaniel Marshall, about trades, repetition, the mechanical arts, manual labor, and how they all relate to Christian sanctification. Glancing back to Episode 2 where we discussed Benedict and his Rule, our hosts and guest remind us that the Christian is apprenticed to a Carpenter. Many modern Christians separate the spiritual life from their day-to-day work life. But Nathaniel helps us to understand how manual labor trains us in virtue and helps us grow in faith and holiness.

Read Nathaniel’s article, “Anglicanism: Apprenticeship to the Carpenter-King” at North American Anglican here: https://northamanglican.com/anglicanism-apprenticeship-to-the-carpenter-king/

Image of Anglo-Saxon map by Hel-hama - Own work using:InkscapeSource: England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878). From the Atlas of European History, Earle W Dowe (d. 1946), G Bell and Sons, London, 1910 (see: File:England-878ad.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19885072