Just Keep Swinging...We're Only INCHES Away!

[Timl1980]

I ran across the following story and, after some meditation and thought on the subject...I decided to sit down and write my own version of it. Perhaps there are a few grains of truth to the main plot...but I found the elements of this tale so encouraging and strengthening that I simply had to sit down and share what I came up with. (I am placing this here as encouragement to everyone, I hope it serves that purpose to at least one person).  I will try to keep it short and simple...and hopefully this will help each of us in some small way...to grit our teeth...and keep on swinging:

 

The Gold Miner

In the late 1800s, during the height of the Gold Rush, a miner named Jacob invested every single penny he had into a piece of land in the heart of California's gold fields. A reputable gold assayer had confirmed that Jacob’s claim contained the "mother lode", a vast deposit of gold waiting to be unearthed. Filled with hope and determination, Jacob began his relentless pursuit, convinced that his labor would soon be rewarded.

 

Years went by, and Jacob toiled day and night, chipping away at the rock with his pickaxe. His mine grew deeper and wider, piles of debris surrounding it on every side...piling up in vast mounds. His body grew weary, his back ached, and his hands became calloused. Some days he could barely hold the pickaxe, let alone swing it. Removing the debris was getting harder and harder...he spent more time dealing with the heavy loads of broken rocks and earth than anything else. Every once in a while...he would uncover a chunk of quartz with a few bright yellow nuggets of pure gold...but most days it was just more dirt, dust and heavy broken rocks that needed to be hauled away before he could continue his search.

 

Yet, Jacob held tightly onto the assayer’s words, driven by the certainty that he was on the verge of uncovering immense wealth. Day by day he would review the assayers old report...its words standing out even more despite the papers fading print. The words on the paper became a mantra...a force that drove Jacob from deep within.

 

As the months dragged on with only a few precious nuggets of gold being found, Jacob began sharing his dreams and struggles with the townspeople. "I know there's gold in my mine," he would say, his voice growing more certain and certain over the years...yet with a definite note of despair in his voice.

 

The townspeople began to scoff and mock him. "You're crazy, Jacob," they laughed derisively, sneering at the small pile of gold nuggets Jacob had accumulated over the years and so eagerly showed off every chance he got. "You're wasting your life away in that mine...and for what? Those little things??" 

 

Over the years, the ridicule grew into outright persecution...with some of the townspeople even taking huge rocks that Jacob had so painstakingly moved out of his mine and wrestled them back down into the shaft, causing poor Jacob to have to clear out all the rubble before he could start again. 

 

Despite the ridicule, Jacob pressed on. But the endless jeers and the sight of his empty hands began to weigh heavily on him. One evening, in a moment of despair, Jacob poured his heart out to a local man named Sam who went around collecting garbage for the town. "Sam, I’m absolutely convinced there's gold in this mine!" Jacob said, his voice hopeful yet tinged with desperation. "But I can’t keep doing this alone. I need help...but no one is willing to help me find this gold!! I've been doing this for years now...and I still haven't found the mother lode. But...but I know it's close...I can feel it...ya know?"" Jacob's voice cracked with sheer frustration and pain...causing Sam to set down the couple bags of trash he had been getting ready to lug to the local town dump and walk over to Jacob, patting him on the back in commiseration. 

 

"It's okay, Jacob. I believe you." Sam said, his eyes taking in the mine and all the surrounding mounds of debris. "Anyone who works this hard for all these years must be telling the truth. Here... let's dig together. I can help you out."

 

"Really? You believe me?" Jacob asked, and... reassured, the two men went to work...clearing out several loads of rock and dirt over the next few weeks. Once again, they found little nuggets here and there...but no mother lode. Weeks turned into months...and suddenly another few years had passed...and still...no mother lode. Both men reviewed the assayer's words over and over again...and both continued to work...the back breaking work taking a toll on them both.

 

Finally...one day when Jacob was standing hunched over deep within the confines of the hot and dirty mine...he simply stopped swinging.

 

Sam put down his shovel and looked at his old friend...wincing in the dim lantern light at the sight of his companion...a broken man hunched over in pain, arthritis having long since bent and twisted his hands and fingers into malformed claws, his back into a crooked question mark.

 

"What's wrong, Jacob?" He asked, trying to ignore the various aches and pains in his own body as he heard the signs of a storm outside the mine, thunder booming in the distance and the first few rain drops echoing down into the entrance of their mine.

 

"I...I can't do this anymore." Jacob croaked, his voice wavery and unsteady...just like his bent and broken body. "I'm old and I... I can't even hold this stupid pickaxe any more..." He gestured wearily with one clawed hand at the old and battered pickaxe with its worn wooden handle. 

 

"But you can't quit now..." Sam protested, fear springing up in his throat at the defeated lump of human flesh standing before him. "We're so close, Jacob!! Can't you feel it? The mother lode is here...we just have to keep going. We'll hit it...very soon. I can feel it!! Can't you? Here... just keep swinging." Sam said encouragingly, picking up the pickaxe and handing it to his friend.

 

Jacob held the pickaxe for a moment...looking once again at the hard rock walls around him...then let it slip numbly to the ground, shaking his head sadly even as lightning lanced across the sky outside, causing the whole mouth of the mine to light up like it was day time.

 

"I... I just can't. " He repeated, his head hanging. "I'm old now, I'm so tired...I'm always...hurting! All this is yours now, Sam... I'm giving everything to you." The words left Jacob in a whisper as he shuffled past his dear friend and started to shuffle towards the entrance of the mine...a defeated and broken man.

 

"Come back, Jacob." Sam pleaded, hot tears running down his grime-streaked face. "We're so close...I know we are! We can both have the mother lode, if we just keep looking!"

 

Jacob just shook his head and kept trudging towards the main entrance, his body slumped in defeat as he disappeared into the darkened and heavy skies outside. 

 

Finally, unable to process what had just happened...Sam trudged over to where the pickaxe lay...and, picking it up...he wearily faced the imposing wall of scarred quartz marred by thousands of strikes...and, raising his arms and swinging the pickaxe back...he swung hard...knocking loose several chunks of rotten quartz that dropped to the ground with heavy thuds.

 

Sam swung again...and again...and again...and suddenly...out of nowhere...the whole facing wall of rock cracked and broke free...crashing to the floor of the tunnel and throwing up clouds of choking dust.

 

Coughing and spluttering...Sam snatched up the lantern and hurriedly waved away all the dust...and suddenly his heart stopped...his mouth instantly bone dry.

 

For there...running at least 50 yards in all directions...the new face of the wall lay exposed...and every single inch of it was laden with thick seams of bright gold gleaming and glinting in the lantern light. 

 

"A few more swings...that's all it would have taken, Jacob. A few more swings..." Sam whispered sadly, and outside the storm continued to rage.

 

And here is where I will leave the story of Jacob and Sam, friends. 

 

To every single person who took the time and effort to read this story...thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will not try to add any more meaning to this story other than to say that...no matter how old, tired, bent up, twisted and broken you may feel...keep swinging...please...we're only inches away!

[StarHope]

That was a good story with a valuable lesson.

 

Reminds me of a talk a CO gave to a previous congregation I was in. In his talk, he used the illustration of traveling while using modern day gps. The illustration went something like this: each of us are in a car traveling to a set destination. You have traveled from afar, and are getting tired. You feel like simply giving up the travel all together and calling it quits because it feels like you’re going nowhere. However, the gps states you are mere minutes from your destination—not an hour, not even a half hour…minutes! Are you going to turn back now? 
That destination is the new system. We are so close! From a human standpoint, it seems like forever. From Jehovah’s standpoint, we are merely minutes away! This old system is on its last breath of life before ending.

I think the illustration of the traveler using gps and miner are similar: keep going. We are almost there. Don’t give up no matter what.

[Witness1970]

I heard a slightly different (and shorter) story from a motivational speaker.  I used to listen to a lot of motivational speakers.

 

The story was that a man had bought property during the gold rush.  He spent everything he had and toiled for years.  Finally, he gave up and sold the land.  The new owner dug just a few feet and found a rich supply of gold.  He became wealthy while the first man had stopped just a short distance from the riches he had dreamed of for so long.

 

This story had nothing to do with religion, just motivation.  But it could easily be applied to our circumstances.  The man had no assurance that he would find gold so he gave up.  Jehovah's Witnesses have assurance about the wealth that lies ahead.  We should not give up for anything.

[Timl1980]

43 minutes ago, Witness1970 said:

This story had nothing to do with religion, just motivation.  But it could easily be applied to our circumstances.  The man had no assurance that he would find gold so he gave up.  Jehovah's Witnesses have assurance about the wealth that lies ahead.  We should not give up for anything.

 

That was the story!! I took it and embellished it...and even though the version I heard was slightly longer and had a few more window dressings for effect...I took it and tried to put it into a format that every single Witness would feel to their bones. That was my intention anyways...the execution may not have been the best. 😅