Thought for the Day 11/12/2021
Friday Tale - A Little at a Time
The fabled USS
Constitution was a 19th Century
American warship affectionately called “Old Ironsides.” During the 1812
conflict between Britain and America, the crew of the Constitution sighted what
appeared to be several American ships blockading a harbor. Overnight the ship
joined her supposed allies, only to find in the morning that she had closed up
with five enemy British vessels. The worst thing was that there was no wind,
making it impossible to sail away again.
With
the Constitution in deep danger, her captain had to come up with another way of
moving. For two days he and the crew crept slowly away from the British ships
by sending an anchor ahead in one of the ship's lifeboats, dropping it, and
then using the capstan to pull the ship towards safety. In this fashion, hour
after hour the ship inched ever-so-slightly away from the enemy. The arduous
work of pulling up anchors from the bottom of the bay, loading them into small
boats, rowing impossibly heavy boats toward open sea, wrestling the anchors
overboard and towing the ship toward anchor must have been an excruciating and
mind-wracking ordeal for the crew - and especially with the enemy so close.
The
opposing captains soon realized what the Constitution was doing and employed
the same tactic in pursuit. But the American ship had widened the gap just
enough that, when wind finally returned, the British were unable to catch her.
In
Sydney Smith’s encouraging words, "It is the greatest of all mistakes to
do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can.” The crew of the
Constitution did what little they could, though it may have seemed almost
useless at the time.
Maybe
you feel as if you are stuck - dead in the water. Maybe all you can do is
barely move the ship of your life an inch at a time. Maybe it feels as if you
are getting nowhere. And maybe it seems that the almost imperceptible movement
forward is the hardest thing you’ve ever done.
But
will you do nothing because you can only do a little? If one tiny step is all
you can take, will you take it today?
~ Jim Gentile
His master said to him,
"Well done,
good and faithful servant. You have
been faithful and trustworthy over
a little, I will put you in charge of
many things; share in the joy of your
master."
~
Matthew 25:23
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