Symbol: Nails
and Holes
Lesson: Words,
like nails may leave long-lasting, sometimes permanent damage.
Illustration:
The father of a son decides he needs to teach his son a lesson about anger and
its effects. He tells the son that every time he loses his temper and says
something unkind, the son is to take a nail and hammer it into an outdoor post.
At first the son thought it was no big deal. He’d get mad just so that he could
put a nail in the post. He used all his pent up energy to make sure it was
driven in so far, it would never come out. But after a while, the son got tired
of it and decided he was going to attempt to control his temper. After a great
deal of self-control the son finally went through a whole day without losing
his temper. He was so proud of himself he went and told his father. His father congratulated
him, handled him the hammer and told him to use the other end to remove one
nail. For each day he succeeded in controlling his temper, he could remove one
more nail.
Months went by and most of
the nails were removed except the ones the son had driven in so vigorously at
the beginning. But finally, with patience and other tools, all the nails were
out. In the meantime, the son had grown into a young man. After a few years he
was finally able to go back to his father and announce that all the nails had
been removed. Once again, the father congratulated him but this time the father
asked the son to walk with him out to that post.
The father put his arm over
his son’s shoulder and calmly said: “Each nail you hammered was because you
said something unkind to someone. Those nails were like the stabbing and
piercing words you used. Now, you have removed all the nails, but what do you notice
about the post?” The son thought about it and said, “It is full of holes.”
“Exactly!” remarked the
father. And even though you have stopped losing your temper, think of all the
holes that it has left in the relationships you’ve hurt. Although you’ve made
wonderful progress, there are always consequences. Some of those holes may
swell shut with rain, but the scares will be there for a long time. Likewise,
it may take a long time for the scars of pain to heal. Keep working hard to
control your temper so that you do not leave anymore holes in the hearts of
people. Although some holes you’ve created in the past may never heal, as long
as you keep moving forward, eventually you will gain a fine reputation with
others.
Notes: n/a
