Yesterday, scientists announced the discovery of a subatomic particle they have been looking for since the idea of its existence was first developed in the 1960s. That's right! For 60 years scientists have been trying to find this little rascal. Why spend so much time looking? What does it do?
Well, as I read the media reports, it is that which causes matter to have mass. "What is that?" you rightly ask. Well, it seems it is that which slows our world down so that everything does not move at the speed of light - which of course we all know has no mass! It is, in a sense, that which embodies energy.
Why am I sharing this with you? First because it is truly exciting. The discovery was made in Lucerne Switzerland with the use of the world's largest particle accelerator... 17 miles long... the Hadron Collider. The whole idea fascinates me.
But secondly, and maybe more to the point, scientists did not give up. They followed their dream for over 60 years - never mind all that went into their studies and work prior to that. What an inspiration!
And then this morning Bill Gates, in an interview on CBS, said that in the begining he and Steve Jobs worked 'fanatically' to make their ideas a reality. When asked what he meant by 'fanatical' he simply said, it was all they thought about, spending all day and many nights eating, dreaming, and working to create their idea.
So what about us? I do believe in eating and sleeping and taking good care of ourselves, but really - are we willing to stay in for the long haul, no matter what we see happening. Those scientists and engineers, were. Some teams made mistakes along the way, thinking they had reached the end, only to find out they had a loose cable!
And what about ministry? There are plenty of loose 'cables' out there, but can we hang in for the long haul? It is worth a wonder...
