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Great
works are performed not by strength, but
by
perseverance.
Success is not judged by what we start,
but by what we finish.
In
the highlands of Scotland, a little group
of people were talking about heroism: They
were saying that sooner or later everybody
had to practice some kind of heroism.
A young man turned to
an old woman who looked so ordinary and
so serene; he did not know that life had
been a series of tragic events for her.
"And what kind of heroism do you practice?"
he asked with an obvious air of superiority.
After all, what kind of heroism could there
be in a life like hers? "Me?"
she said. "I practice the heroism of
going on."
—The
Minister's Manual
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The
Pillar
 ey!
Hello?! Are you listening? Yes,
that’s me, that pillar the old lady tourist is sitting
on. At least that’s what I was once—a pillar. Now
I’m just rubble.
Once I was part of a magnificent
temple. I was one of quite a few pillars that held up the
whole structure. People came and marveled. Not at me, but
at the great temple. They still come to look at the ruins,
but the glory is gone.
I didn’t know what happened.
I guess I didn’t see how important I was. I thought that
I was insignificant and that what I was doing didn’t
make much of a difference. After all, there were a whole line
of us doing the same thing—holding up the roof of the
temple. I thought it wouldn’t matter if I left my place.
So I stepped out of line, left my place.
At first nothing happened. Thought
so! I said to myself. But then it came. All of a sudden there
was a rumble. First a beam fell down. Then the roof came crashing
to the ground, and that took all the rest with it. And I ended
up in pieces—broken and strewn across the ground. Down
and out, as they say, and not much good for anything except
for tired tourists to sit on.
Don’t let happen to you
what happened to me. If you know you’re in the place
you’re supposed to be, doing what you’re supposed
to be doing, stay where you are and keep doing what you need
to do, even if it seems insignificant. You are more important
than you think. It may not be a temple you’re holding
together, but there are probably a lot of things and a lot
of people depending on you. Don’t let them down. Be a
pillar—a strong pillar—that cannot be moved.
—Colin
C. Bell
“He
who overcomes, I [Jesus] will make him a pillar in the temple
of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on
him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My
God. And I will write on him My new name” (Revelation
3:12).
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