Thursday, April 24, 2003
Thursday, April 24, 2003
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
As the engineers studied the drawings, one by one they came to the same conclusion. Their
visionary boss just didn't know much about the fundamental principles of engineering. He'd have
to be told gently--his dream was impossible.
Ford said, "Produce it anyway." They replied, "But it's impossible." "Go ahead," Ford
commanded, "and stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required.
For six months they struggled with drawing after drawing, design after design. Nothing. Another
six months. Nothing. At the end of the year Ford checked with his engineers and they once again
told him that what he wanted was impossible. Ford told them to keep going. They did. And they
discovered how to build a V-8 engine.
Drive that lasts comes from having someone greater than ourselves instructing us, encouraging
us, prodding us, exhorting us. The disciples were changed because now they had the inner
witness of the living Christ. They had more than excitement. They were changed persons. The
Spirit had come and now dwelt within them. They were excited. They were also forever changed.
(Acts 13.52
NRSV)
Automobile genius Henry Ford once came up with a revolutionary plan for a new kind of engine
which we know today as the V-8. Ford was eager to get his great new idea into production. He
had some men draw up the plans, and presented them to the engineers.
Dear God, continue to change me from my worldliness into the image of your Spirit. Amen.
