George, You Got More Than You Thought…
Today is President’s day when the nation looks to honor the first President, George Washington and the sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln. Over the. years history has taken a turn to bashing our presidents. I am not one that does that. Both of these ‘men’, for all of our leaders are but mere men are notable for the daring sacrifices they made in their day to take this country a little further in its’ quest toward a democratic government.
However, we are not going to talk of either these gentlemen today, rather a different George, George Washington Carver, a man who got a lot more than he thought he would. George was born a slave who was stolen from his family as an infant. He wound up in the home of a family named Carver. The mistress of the house Susan Carver taught George and his brother to read and write. He was denied admittance to the local schools due to his race. However, his quest for knowledge led him to re-locate to Kansas where he eventually went to school in Iowa. His life is fascinating for many reasons, but one thing sticks out, he kept at his pursuit for knowledge and making contributions to the field of science not for fame or fortune but to help mankind. His desire to help southern farmers whose cotton crops had depleted the soil drove him to prayer where he prayed for God to show him the secrets of the universe. God’s reply to him was that he could not handle the secrets of the universe. Carver then asked God to show him the purpose of man; God again told him that his little mind could not handle that. Last, Carver asked God to give him the purpose of the peanut. God told him that even that was too much for him, but what did he want to know about the peanut. Carver asked if he could get milk from the peanut? From that dialogue with his Creator Carver returned to his laboratory and before it was over, had found 300 uses for the peanut!
Carver, throughout his career until his untimely death at 78 made astounding contributions to science, the arts, even to society, government, culture, and certainly education. Throughout. his life he shared his faith with those he came in contact with. Upon his death he left for what was a sizable financial legacy for a black man, to continue his work. George Washington Carver still remains an inspiration to anyone who has a dream that if you go to the dressmaker, He will do more than you thought:
but just as it is written [in Scripture], "Things which the eye has notseen and the ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed]."1 Corinthians 2:9 (AMP)
Maria