1 Jan 1999

Why did you choose "the shovel" as a handle?

Submitted by theshovel
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Thanks for asking about my handle, "the shovel". Quite a few years ago I heard the expression, "Hand me a shovel, it's getting pretty deep in here!". The manner in which I heard it was a situation that left an indelible print upon my mind. The boss' wife used to tell her stories to any of us she could corner. Of course, she was the heroine in the telling as she always saved the day. :) Well, this one day I was trapped as she was going on about herself and a co-worker pops his head in the door with a shovel in hand and says out loud, "Here Jim, you may need this, it's getting pretty deep in here!" Wow! You coulda cut the air with a knife! She glared at him. I didn't know what to do. Talk about tension. But that shovel ... after a while I began to see it as the thing that cuts through our accepted protocols and excuses and fluff, etc. The shovel is a common tool that is for breaking through the surface and getting to the roots. There is no greater need for this than in our religious perceptions ... mine first! So I started writing a book with the title of, "Hand me a shovel, ...". The rest is history. Well, there you have it. I'm not sure if it was anything you expected, or if you will like it or not, but that's the short of it. :)

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