August 17, 2005

[Rev. Doc]

Making Progress

"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress."
I Timothy 4:15

Sometimes it seems like the progress we make is great, only to see it dashed by surrounding circumstances.

On June 4, 1783, at the market square of a French village of Annonay, not far from Paris, a smoky bonfire on a raised platform was fed by wet straw and old wool rages. Tethered above, straining its lines, was a huge taffeta bag 33 feet in diameter. In the presence of "a respectable assembly and a great many other people," and accompanied by great cheering, the balloon was cut from its moorings and set free to rise majestically into the noon sky. Six thousand feet into the air it went -- the first public ascent of a balloon, the first step in the history of human flight. It came to earth several miles away in a field, where it was promptly attacked by pitchfork-waving peasants and torn to pieces as an instrument of evil!

Prayer: Ask God to help you not to be discouraged by the actions of others, but to continue to live your life in such a way that your spiritual progress will be evident to all for the glory of God.

"Because I think I'm making progress."
~Pablo Casals when asked why he still practiced the cello 6 hours a day at age 95.