The Failed Son

         It is tough for a father to have a failure for a son. Such was the case for William, who lived near the town of Dearborn.

         William was farmer. William’s eldest son, Henry, always seemed to suffer from what we today call attention deficit disorder. He was not much help.

         As the child grew, he seemed an even greater disappointment. Farmer fathers typically yearn for their oldest son to stay and work the family farm. “Someday, all of this will be yours!” However, with little education, Henry left home for good at age 16.

         He wandered and for years never seemed to be able to settle down. The father wrote, "Henry is not much of a farmer. He's a tinkerer."

         William Ford lived near Dearborn, Michigan. The name of William’s son was Henry. Chances are, because of Henry, your lips utter William’s last name at least once a week.

*Source: APRIL 1865 by Jay Winik

Scattered Effort

Scattered Effort

            Here is something I read in the publication, BITS AND PIECES, twenty years ago; Henry Ford is the source of this quote, and it challenges those of us who have embraced the multi-tasking culture—of whom, I am chief.  

“A weakness of all human beings is trying to do too many things at once. That scatters effort and destroys direction. It makes for haste, and haste makes waste. So we do things all the wrong ways possible before we come to the right one. Then we think it is the best way because it works, and it was the only way left that we could see.”

            The psalmist issued a interesting related quote three thousand years ago:

 “Be still, and know that I am God…”

The Son Who was a Failure

            At thirty-three, he was a middle-aged failure. At least, that is what his father thought. He spent all of his spare time working on a cockamamie dream. He had done so for years.

            Finally, he finished. He brought the product of his work over to his father’s house. His mother was thrilled. His sisters begged for a ride. His father refused to come out of the house.

            Who cared how you got from one place to another!  Not only that, what a silly concept—mobilizing yourself?

            So the father went back into the house. His son and daughter-in-law got back in the new contraption and transported themselves back home. The trip took one hour and covered ten miles, but they did it themselves. No horses, no donkeys, no oxen. They returned in their automobile.

            The year was 1896. In a few years, the son would have a company producing his brand of automobile.  A few years after that, he would become one of the most powerful, influential, richest, and most famous men on the planet. He, more than anyone else, would create the middle class in the United States.

            One other thing. The son, who was a failure, would make the name of the man most people had never heard of, one of the most recognized names on earth one hundred years running. Anyone know the first name of the father? I don’t, I forgot. But thanks to the son, Henry, I know the father’s last name.

            Ford.

The Blind Side

We all have a blind side, and I don't mean one that requires a big left tackle for protection, either. According to Richard S. Tebow’s new book, DENIAL: WHY BUSINESS LEADERS FAIL TO LOOK FACTS IN THE FACE—AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT, Henry Ford made himself a wealthy man by building the Model T.

By the 1920s, customers began seeking automobiles of different colors. None of this fazed Ford. In 1922, he wrote what became a famous quote, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants as long as it is black." By World War II, his company lay near bankruptcy.

Henry Ford had a blind side. In spite of the data he was receiving, he refused to listen to the truth and it almost destroyed the company.

I often see a husband with a blind side. He is systematically destroying his marriage, and he is oblivious to it. I have seen mothers who are cold to their children; they have no idea they are emotionally devastating their own flesh and blood.

The sinful nature is programmed to distort our reality. That is one reason the Bible recommends close fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. Through their loving communication, they can tip us off to our blind sides. We will then, hopefully, respond before disaster strikes.