120 Of Philosophy and Nails
Jorge and Andre were on the job doing carpentry work. They were at a home building a patio addition. As they were nailing some boards into place, Jorge picked up a nail and started to examine it carefully.
"You know what, Andre?" mused Jorge. "I think of all the tools and equipment we have, being a nail would be the worst thing ever."
"Being a nail?" laughed Andre. "Are you getting all philosophical on me all of a sudden? Okay, go ahead, tell me why."
"Well," Jorge said, "for one thing, nails get hit and hammered on repeatedly all the time. They get placed into one place, then maybe later they are abruptly pulled out. Nails can get bent out of shape and have to be hammered back into shape. Nails have important jobs in keeping things in place, but they never get noticed unless they are an eyesore. People come into the house and might admire the flooring or the upholstery or the color the rooms are painted, but no praise is ever given to nails. Nails basically are abused and unappreciated. Being a nail is such a thankless task. I wouldn't want to be a nail."
"Hmm, interesting points," replied Andre as he stopped and picked up a nail to examine also. "It's true that nails have it hard. However, nails are invaluable to us in our profession even though people may not notice them. If you think about it, some nails are allowed the honor to have beautiful paintings to be hung from them. If I were a nail, I would want to have a magnificent painting hung from me that people would travel from all over to admire, even if they didn't see me at all."
A Christian writer once mused, "If I could be a nail on the wall, I would want the picture of Jesus to cover me, so when people looked at my direction, they would not see me, but they would see Jesus only." Oh, let us be like that nail and to reflect the life of Christ through us to everyone around us!
- Recommended reading: John 3:30, 1 Corinthians 11:1
