You have to love the spirit of Arthur Pedrick. Between 1962 and 1977, Arthur patented 162 inventions. Among other inventions, Arthur patented a bicycle with amphibious capability, a golf ball that could be steered in flight, and a way to supply water to the deserts of the world by keeping a constant supply of Arctic snowballs flying to the deserts with giant peashooters located in the Arctic.
What about his spirit is there to love? In the face of failure after failure, Arthur never quit trying. In 1902, the poetry editor of Atlantic Monthly returned a stack of poems to an aspiring poet. This note accompanied the unpublished poems, “Our magazine has no room for your vigorous verse.” The aspiring poet’s name is Robert Frost. In 1905, the University of Bern turned down a doctoral dissertation as “irrelevant and fanciful.” That aspiring scholar was Albert Einstein. In 1894, a teenager named Winston Churchill had a note on his report card which noted his “conspicuous lack of success.”
Faith is not just belief. Faith is a belief that allows one to keep on keeping on, even in the face of failure. Before he was the leader of a nation, Moses was a 40-year-old failure running from the Pharaoh. Before he was a preacher on Pentecost, Peter lied and denied that he even knew Jesus. Before he penned the Gospel of Mark, he offended the Apostle Paul so deeply that Paul would not even take Mark on a missionary trip with him.
It is not your failures that define you. It is how many times you are willing to fail and then try again. Everyone remembers Will Rogers for his great wit and sense of humor. He did not start out as a humorist. He started out as an act that entertained audiences with rope tricks. One day, in the middle of his act, Will failed. He got tangled up in his ropes. Facing people who had paid money to see him do rope tricks, he said, “A rope ain’t so bad to get tangled up in if it ain’t around your neck.” The audience roared. He loved their response to his humor. His failure changed his life.
Failure is not a sin. As the Bible says, “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked” (Proverbs 24:16). You have only failed when you quit trying. There is a difference between saying, “I have failed” and “I am a failure.” Everyone fails, but not everyone is a failure.
~Lonnie Davis
Once there was a street vender who made a good living selling hotdogs from a cart in New York City. He made enough so that he sent his son to Harvard where he got a Masters degree in business. When the son graduated, he came back home and studied his father’s hotdog stand. “Pop,” the son told his dad, “You are not charging enough for your hotdogs. You need to raise the price.” Dad tried to argue, but the son reminded him that times were hard. “Okay son,” Dad said, “You are the one with the business education.”
A week later the son gave more advice to his dad, “Pop,” he said, “You need to use cheaper hotdogs. It will increase your profits without having to raise your sales.” Again the dad argued, but the educated son prevailed, “Pop, times are hard.” The dad bought cheaper hotdogs and raised his prices. Sure enough times got hard.
Some folks always see the wind chill instead of the actually temperature. It is never 30 degrees; it is a wind chill of 15. It is never 100 degrees; it is a heat index of 115. Now the “let’s put the most negative spin we can on everything” people are after the economy. Commentators are all over the media pointing out that we have the worse economy since the great depression. Hogwash! According to a recent wall Street Journal survey of 56 economic forecasters, the jobless rate for December of 2008 is 6.8%. In 1992 the jobless rate hit 7.8%. In 82-83 the jobless rate hit 10.8%. In 1975 the jobless rate hit 9%.
Deliver me from the negative, nay-saying, “sky is falling” kind of people. Paul urged Christians, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).
Any old heathen can follow the counsel of Philippians 4:8 when things are going great. Christians can think on good things even when the jobless rate is 6.8%. They can even think good things when the jobless rate is what it was in the Great Depression, 25.6%.
We do not need to buy cheaper hotdogs; we need to follow Philippians 4:8.
~Lonnie Davis
Nov 16, 2008
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It was a Sunday morning. As I was getting ready for church, out of the corner of my eye I saw something red flying in my bedroom. I looked again and caught the quick glimpse of a wasp. I am a “waspaphobic” (I made up the word, but it is a fear of being stung by wasps). I quickly grabbed something with which to kill the wasp. Turning my head for just a minute allowed the wasp to disappear from sight. I closed the door and began my hunt. Nothing!
As it was getting time to go to church I was sure to keep the door closed when I left. Sunday afternoon was dedicated to a wasp hunt. Nothing! My wife even hunted him a time or two. Nothing! A few hours later and it was time for bed. With great trepidation I crawled into bed.
Did I mention that I am a waspaphobic? How does one sleep with a wasp in the room? The answer is “lightly.” When I did not see the wasp for two days and soon convinced myself that he went out of the house the same way he came into it. Tuesday morning at 2 AM I woke up and saw him back in my room. Just as quickly as he came, he disappeared again. I sat on the edge of the bed holding a fly swatter until 3AM. It wasn’t until Friday that I saw and killed him. There is peace in my house again.
I guess we all understand the torment that comes from such a situation, but let me share a two important thoughts.
- The wasp can sting me, but it will not kill me.
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The wasp will ultimately lose the battle.
So it is with death, death can sting me but it cannot destroy me. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Matthew 10:28). Death is a temporary situation that only looks final. In the end, I will get up from the dead and so will you. Paul wrote, “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:14).
Death can make you afraid. You can sit on your bed and worry through night. Death can sting you, but in the end it will lose the battle. Jesus assured the victory.
LonnieDavis