Pencil Parable: Your goodness or true-worth is within.
She was short, wrinkly-skin and old. She was a foreigner
without material wealth and lived in one of desolately poor part of India. But
despite falling way below the wordly standard of success, she is mostly revered
and admired by a lot of people and genuinely loved by those whose lives she has
touched. Her beauty transcended outward appearance because of her inner beauty
that vowed wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.
Her name was Mother Teresa.
Pencil Parable: You will need to be sharpened as you go
through life.
He supported and fought for the end of apartheid. He was jailed for 27 years where he experienced all sorts of racial abuse coming from his white jail wardens. He persevered and accomplished
his dream of a free African people by winning and becoming the first black
president of South Africa. After his victory, he once again fought for peace
and racial reconcilliation with their oppressors.
His name was Nelson Mandela
Pencil Parable: You will be in someone else’s hand.
It was the time of the pre-Nazi occupation of Europe and
this young man was required to undergo military training against his will.
Instead, he performed with various theaters where he hone his multi-language skills.
As soon as the Germans occupied his homeland, he worked as messenger, quarry
laborer, chemical factory worker because of threats of Germany deportation.
Three years after and while the war was still on-going, he decided to enter
priesthood and offered his life to God’s call to serve. And by all means, he did serve long and served well as the 264th pope.
His name was Karol Josef Wojtyla or Pope John Paul II
Pencil Parable: You are expected to leave your mark.
He lived at the time of oppressive British-rule. His
nationalism and drive for their country’s self-rule has spurred non-violent
protests and actions throughout their land that reverberated around the
world. His truth-based peaceful civil disobedience despite the constant threat of
jail and violence has become hallmark battle-cries of colonized and oppressed
people and nations. Our very own People Power that brought down a tyrant
dictator is without an iota of doubt, a replication of his initiative.
His name is Mahatma Gandhi.
In our own small everyday ways, we too can be a "pencil" if
we believe in our inner goodness and persevere regardless of the trials and
difficulties.
And if we do allow God to use our small-ness for His will,
then the mark we will leave will surely lead others to our Creator.
References:
1. Parable of the Pencil – from James Feehan as shared in
We Celebrate God’s Love
2. Biography.com for excerpts on the lives of Mahatma
Gandi, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.
