I swear, to you.

This is my hammer. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my hammer is useless. Without my hammer, I am useless. I must swing my hammer true. I must swing straighter than the nail that is trying to defy me. I must hit it before it hits me. I will. My hammer and I know that what counts in carpentry is not the nails we use, the noise of our hit, or the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit.

My hammer is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its weight, its head and its claw. I will keep my hammer clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other.

Before you I swear this creed. My hammer and I are the joiners of wood. We are the masters of our work. We are the builders of my life.

So be it, until construction is complete and there is no work.