Margins
When designing, you need margins. As I pulled my desk a foot away from the corner of the room this morning, I’m reminded of this.
The naive designer calls it wasted space. The wiser, room for growth.
And intuitively, we just know margins are right. Breathing room.
Modern industrialized life has tight margins. Just-in-time delivery. No spacing. No padding. All hustle. Side gig economy.
Fit the stuff into the electronics cabinet. Make it small. Stuff it in.
No, we need space.
"You may plant your land for six years and gather its crops. But during the seventh year, you must leave it alone and withdraw from it. The needy among you will then be able to eat just as you do, and whatever is left over can be eaten by wild animals. This also applies to your vineyard and your olive grove." (Exodus 23:10–11)
Just as we have temporal sabbath, we need physical sabbath, too. Margins are where we stand to enjoy the fruits of the non-margin.
In the world of agriculture, margins naturally crop up - fallow strips, waterways, ditches by the road. These realms where the wild grass grows, because it’s just too much work to fill it. These margins prove themselves useful though - serviceways, places to pull off, filtration, erosion control.
The margins are where God’s providence comes in and can repair things.