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Post by Follower on Apr 23, 2006 17:07:38 GMT -5
Parable Of The Pencil
The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.
"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."'
"'One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand. if
"'Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."
"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."
"'Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside."
"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.
One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gift you possess.
Two: You Will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.
Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.
And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.
Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.
Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.
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Post by justamom on Apr 23, 2006 17:35:18 GMT -5
Thanks for posting this.... was a very nice read this morning....
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Post by botany on Apr 24, 2006 8:43:14 GMT -5
Ah, here I am to nit pick the parable. Well, I'm not detracting from the message. Take that with you. I just like to nit pick parables and such -- to analyze what is really being said in them. Does a pencil really have a choice to allow someone to hold it? Not my pencil. I have one of those fancy clicky pencils. hehe What if the erasor gets all used up before the pencil gets sharpened to the very end? Hmmm... then the pencil itself won't be able to correct its own mistakes. Try writing on a wet piece of paper. The paper gets torn before any usable mark is made. Now, they do make the paper that can be written on while wet. It is truly a great thing when doing outdoor research/notetaking in all weather conditions! How about paper made of non-tree fiber/pulp? What about other fiber crops? I don't know, since I've never tried others. So historically only people who have allowed god to hold them have done great things? What constitutes a "great thing"? Hmmm... this is a tough one. Yes and no. Well, yes, the possibility to correct the mistakes exists. I guess at first I was thinking of that some people don't/won't correct mistakes due to varying reasons. Ok... nevermind on my initial nit pick on this one. Sounds like some decent secular advice. It is a fairly realistic (compared to idealistic) view, but it works. andy  |
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Post by selah on Apr 24, 2006 10:18:55 GMT -5
I enjoyed the parable of the pencil...thanks a lot.
Andy's quote reminded me of something I heard recently.
John 14:12
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
This verse is quite interesting, isn't it? I have often said that because Jesus now lives IN us, we are able to accomplish more in the world simply because there are more of us. He was one man when he was here in the flesh.
I recently heard another perspective. Linda Rios-Brook said we should not define the gifts or talents we have as either "spiritual" or "natural" gifts. She says they are ALL from God since He created us, and I agree.
Then she compares a supernatural healing of a person's body to someone discovering a cure for AIDS, which would heal a whole nation! "Which is greater?" she asks. Yet, because one gift is scientific rather than "heavenly", we don't classify it as a God-given gift.
I found it interesting to think about.
Blessings,
Linda
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Post by botany on Apr 25, 2006 12:46:51 GMT -5
Thanks Linda! Your insights help tear down the wall separating secular/religious schools of thought. Why fight over ownership of the "miracle/cure" when we can look at it for being what it is: a good thing?! If it is "of god" that's a good thing to the religious, no? If it is of the scientific arena, that is a good thing to the secularists, no? Tomayto, tomawto... Have a grateful day, andy |
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vagabond
New Member
God doesn't make junk.
Posts: 14
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Post by vagabond on Apr 25, 2006 14:46:12 GMT -5
Can one man make a pencil?
nope
Just like no ONE group has all the answers.
Thank GOD for the answers, and for giving us the desire to ask questions!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2006 16:23:00 GMT -5
Can one man make a pencil? nope Just like no ONE group has all the answers. Thank GOD for the answers, and for giving us the desire to ask questions! why can't one man make a pencil? i can make a house from start to finnish, so why can't one man make a pencil? |
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vagabond
New Member
God doesn't make junk.
Posts: 14
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Post by vagabond on Apr 25, 2006 22:59:34 GMT -5
Well, do YOU Make each nail? Do you grow the trees and cut the lumber? Do you machine every screw and fitting? No, you don't make a house from start to finish. You might be able to put the pieces together, but you don't make it. You BUILD it  Just as one man does not make a pencil. |
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Me
New Member
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Post by Me on Apr 26, 2006 4:44:26 GMT -5
Well, do YOU Make each nail? Do you grow the trees and cut the lumber? Do you machine every screw and fitting? No, you don't make a house from start to finish. You might be able to put the pieces together, but you don't make it. You BUILD it Just as one man does not make a pencil. i can still make the house regardless of whether i make the nails or grow the trees and fell them and cut them into timber of which i have done and can do. So just one man can make a pencil just like God can give the answers to just one group |
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Post by botany on Apr 26, 2006 9:25:04 GMT -5
Can one man make a pencil? nope Just like no ONE group has all the answers. Thank GOD for the answers, and for giving us the desire to ask questions! You just said that "no ONE group has all the answers." I'm confused -- you suggest that god has all the answers. andy |
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vagabond
New Member
God doesn't make junk.
Posts: 14
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Post by vagabond on Apr 26, 2006 10:45:26 GMT -5
Because you asked: If you asked the CEO of the world's largest pencil manufacturer how to make a pencil, he would say, that they get the "lead" (it's not really lead — it's graphite) from Sri Lanka. It's mixed with clay from Mississippi, using sulfuric tallow, which is animal fats chemically reacted with sulfuric acid. Then he'd tell you about what goes into producing the wooden part of the pencil, including the logging operations in different parts of the world. And he'd explain the creation of the lacquer that goes onto the wood — and how producers of castor beans and refiners of castor oil play a major role here. What about the brass part? He'd tell you about miners of copper, zinc, and nickel in different parts of the world and try to explain their operations. And what about the eraser? He'd explain that it's made from a reaction between rape seed oil and sulfur chloride from Indonesia. And what about the equipment that is a necessary part of all of these operations? How is that made? He probably couldn't answer that one. The point Read was making is that no one person knows the answer to all of these questions. And if no one knows how to make a pencil, then certainly no one knows how to make automobiles, jet planes, computers, and so forth. Yet, the world is filled with these marvelous devices! How does this happen? It happens with people in different parts of the world acting in their own self-interest and coordinating their plans with others. Each person in the process of production tries to make a living and improve his economic well-being. He doesn't say to himself, "Golly, the world needs pencils; I'd better be a good human being and do my part." For example, take a person who is looking for a job in Sri Lanka because his family needs to eat. He goes to the local graphite company and asks whether they have a job available and, if so, what the pay is. The company offers him employment, he accepts, and he helps to produce graphite that is ultimately shipped to the United States, where it is used to make pencils. The worker may never know that his efforts resulted in the production of millions of pencils. What might matter to him is simply that he did a good job at his graphite-producing job. In other words, while his work certainly does improve the lot of mankind through the ultimate production of pencils, that is not the goal of the worker. He's simply trying to make life more prosperous for himself and his family. And notice that millions of pencils come into existence without a decree from the U.S. government pronouncing that pencils must be produced. That is, there is no central government plan for the production of pencils. There is not some bureaucrat in Washington designing this enormously complex system in order to ensure the continued production of pencils. As Friedrich A. Hayek pointed out, the unhampered market economy produces outcomes that are the results of human action but not of human design. (from: www.fff.org/freedom/0397a.asp ) SO Pencils happen, and Christians happen. Not because ONE GROUP has the answers, but because GOD has the answers. God organises our lives so that when it is all said and done HIS WILL is accomplished. People just like to think they know everything. Show me a man or group that says "I/We have all the answers" and I will show you that they don't even know what the question is! |
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Maggie
Senior Member
Posts: 347
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Post by Maggie on Apr 26, 2006 16:44:39 GMT -5
Parable Of The Pencil ..........Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make......... So if you are suggesting that we want to be a pencil in the hand of God, what is this saying? A pencil does not make the mistakes, and has no choice in the marks it is making, on paper or the cuff of the white shirt worn by the person holding it. Are you saying that God makes mistakes with our lives? and then rubs our head in it, in an attempt to obliterate the evidence, uses us and periodically shears pieces of us off (body or soul?) and takes His creation apart, bit by bit, until we are a little nub. Something smells funny with this story. Not a very well thought out parable. |
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Post by to on Apr 26, 2006 20:48:50 GMT -5
Parable Of The Pencil ..........Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make......... So if you are suggesting that we want to be a pencil in the hand of God, what is this saying? A pencil does not make the mistakes, and has no choice in the marks it is making, on paper or the cuff of the white shirt worn by the person holding it. Are you saying that God makes mistakes with our lives? and then rubs our head in it, in an attempt to obliterate the evidence, uses us and periodically shears pieces of us off (body or soul?) and takes His creation apart, bit by bit, until we are a little nub. Something smells funny with this story. Not a very well thought out parable. something always smells funny to you  |
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Post by talk on Apr 26, 2006 20:50:05 GMT -5
Because you asked: If you asked the CEO of the world's largest pencil manufacturer how to make a pencil, he would say, that they get the "lead" (it's not really lead — it's graphite) from Sri Lanka. It's mixed with clay from Mississippi, using sulfuric tallow, which is animal fats chemically reacted with sulfuric acid. Then he'd tell you about what goes into producing the wooden part of the pencil, including the logging operations in different parts of the world. And he'd explain the creation of the lacquer that goes onto the wood — and how producers of castor beans and refiners of castor oil play a major role here. What about the brass part? He'd tell you about miners of copper, zinc, and nickel in different parts of the world and try to explain their operations. And what about the eraser? He'd explain that it's made from a reaction between rape seed oil and sulfur chloride from Indonesia. And what about the equipment that is a necessary part of all of these operations? How is that made? He probably couldn't answer that one. The point Read was making is that no one person knows the answer to all of these questions. And if no one knows how to make a pencil, then certainly no one knows how to make automobiles, jet planes, computers, and so forth. Yet, the world is filled with these marvelous devices! How does this happen? It happens with people in different parts of the world acting in their own self-interest and coordinating their plans with others. Each person in the process of production tries to make a living and improve his economic well-being. He doesn't say to himself, "Golly, the world needs pencils; I'd better be a good human being and do my part." For example, take a person who is looking for a job in Sri Lanka because his family needs to eat. He goes to the local graphite company and asks whether they have a job available and, if so, what the pay is. The company offers him employment, he accepts, and he helps to produce graphite that is ultimately shipped to the United States, where it is used to make pencils. The worker may never know that his efforts resulted in the production of millions of pencils. What might matter to him is simply that he did a good job at his graphite-producing job. In other words, while his work certainly does improve the lot of mankind through the ultimate production of pencils, that is not the goal of the worker. He's simply trying to make life more prosperous for himself and his family. And notice that millions of pencils come into existence without a decree from the U.S. government pronouncing that pencils must be produced. That is, there is no central government plan for the production of pencils. There is not some bureaucrat in Washington designing this enormously complex system in order to ensure the continued production of pencils. As Friedrich A. Hayek pointed out, the unhampered market economy produces outcomes that are the results of human action but not of human design. (from: www.fff.org/freedom/0397a.asp ) SO Pencils happen, and Christians happen. Not because ONE GROUP has the answers, but because GOD has the answers. God organises our lives so that when it is all said and done HIS WILL is accomplished. People just like to think they know everything. Show me a man or group that says "I/We have all the answers" and I will show you that they don't even know what the question is! talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill. yawn |
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Post by botany on Apr 28, 2006 8:44:56 GMT -5
vagabond, Beer is the answer! What is the question? -- lol On a more serious note, let me see if I understand your post correctly: what you are saying is that god is coordinating everybody's efforts for his own self interest? andy |
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Post by botany on Apr 28, 2006 9:03:00 GMT -5
Oh geez. There you go with your discerning mind! A parable should never be questioned. Your faith is lacking; you need to listen to a sermon! lol... thanks for the added insight to the parable. andy |
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Post by as i c it on Apr 28, 2006 11:26:21 GMT -5
vagabond,
Wow! You know a lot about pencils! And you make some very good points!
When I look at all the knowledge that it took to create this world: and to bring all that knowledge (of all the various types together)--so THAT they would work together--then--
I think it'd be a very easy thing for God to move individuals (and events) however He wishes--to bring about whatever end He desires.
God created everything out of nothing. Man just uses everything that God has provided in order to create --anything!!!-- that he creates: or uses: or does. We may mix/mingle/merge/add/subtract/divide/and multiple to what is already in existence--in order to bring something new into existence--but--everything we do...already exists...in some form...for use to "use" to do that.
So man's intelligence (compared to God) and as shown by the intelligence it took to bring everything that exists into existence (and to make this world work...as it does..."all by itself"...without man's help) means: as vagabond already stated....that when all is said and done, God's will gets done!
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