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As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.
Proverbs 27:17 nlt

I’ll never forget the first time I saw some of the men in the Jamamadi village sharpening their machetes and axes. They had a special stone which was well worn from much use. This stone had the best cutting qualities of any of the sharpening stones I have seen manufactured here in the industrial society we live in. Just a few well appointed licks with this stone, and it was razor sharp, ready to chop down trees. I was helping them clear their fields for their crops for the next three years. They would chop halfway through all the smaller trees within the range of a large tree they wanted to cut down (sorry - all you greenies out there, but slash/burn agriculture is the way of life for thousands of years for these people - and their impact is small compared to the massive destruction of the rainforest by machines) then they would chop down the big tree. It would fall; taking down a huge section of trees, vines and underbrush like a stack of dominos. Those guys knew how to chop. When I was nineteen in Colombia, I once saw a man chop down a two ft. diameter hardwood tree using only a machete. The secret is to have a sharp cutting instrument, and a good aim. They would stop about every fifteen minutes or so to sharpen their tools. That was good, as it also gave them an opportunity to rest in the hot humid tropical climate.

I thought I could help them get their fields cleared faster using my chainsaw, but sometimes they could chop down a tree about as fast as I could with my chainsaw. One day I started in helping them, and they told me to quit. “You might make the tree fall too soon before we are ready.” So I let them do the work while I observed. Until they came to a large tree which was hollow and full of bees. Every time they would strike the trunk with the ax the enraged bees would come out of their hive to attack. That’s when they called me over with my chainsaw. “Here Hikado (that’s my name in their language) you cut this one down!” “Gee thanks!” I thought. But the high frequency vibrations of the chainsaw was less agravating to the bees and I got stung only a few times. They had prepared the area where the tree was to fall, but my aim was off slightly and the tree fell into the branches of two other large trees forming a huge teepee like structure - very dangerous, and difficult to cut down without all three large (150-200 ft high) trees coming down on top of your head. And the bees were angrily swarming around the tree I had cut. One man studied the problem for a while, then went over and chopped one or two large vines the size of Arnold’s (the governator)arm, and the whole mess came crashing down amidst the cheers of all the indians.

This story illustrates several things I would like to point out. First of all, a big challenge requires sharp tools. “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.” We can sharpen our tools by the company we keep. If we hang around people who are constantly dragging us down, we become dull ourselves. So climb into the back pocket of someone whom you would like to emulate and learn from him - have a mentor.

Secondly, a big challenge requires a focused effort. Sadly, even after 35 years living in the Amazon, I have a poor aim when it comes to chopping! What took the indians three whacks to cut through, usually took me about 20. If your aim is good, and you know where to strike, then your effectiveness to solve the problem is greater.

Thirdly, it is often one simple thing which if resolved will bring the whole jungle crashing down, but if done improperly might bring it down on top of your head. It helps to study the problem, and pray and seek the Lord’s guidance before deciding exactly where to chop.

Finally, I was always interested in those stones because I have always been a connoisseur of fine sharpening stones, and there were not any stones like these around wherever I looked. The indians always told me they got them somewhere up river, but whenever I made excursions way up into the headwaters of rivers I did not find any. It remains a mystery to me today. The moral of this is that you can’t always find the perfect stone to sharpen you - but don’t let that keep you from being sharpened by the stones that are available to you.

Blessings!

Rick Reece

I heard Francis Frangipane on a CD the other day in a writing seminar. He was talking about how whenever you have an urgent task to complete on the computer, and it bombs out on you. I’m sure we all can identify with that. Jerry Pournelle back in the days of “BYTE” magazine used to say that every machine had a “Critical Need Detector” (Or words to that effect) and whenever your task was the most urgent, that’s when the machine or computer decides to hang up or shut down or bomb out on you. Years ago, when I worked at the Computer/Graphics department at our jungle center in the Amazon, whenever we were preparing scripture to print to send out to the Indians we always asked for extra prayer that nothing would go wrong, because that was usually when things tended to happen - whenever there was something lifechanging being built.

I have experienced that this week as we were preparing to launch our new book Where There is Hope. Yesterday my home network went down and after multple re-boots of everything, and checking and double checking, four hours later it decided to come back, and I still don’t know what I did to make it come back. I think it was something I did with FIrewalls - but I suspect I still have the remains of an old Norton Firewall on my system which I have not been able to find nor remove.

Anyway, back to Francis Frangipane. He said “You know that little blinky thing? There’s a reason they call that the cursor!” My wife and I had a great laugh over that, and I immediately began to change the names of all my cursors to “blessors.” I mean we don’ wan’ no more cursors roun’ here. So from now on they are officially called “Blessors” and they will bless my computers instead of curse them. And it still helps to pray.

Blessings to you.