I watched him take an antique Gillette Blue Blade double-edged blade out of the razor after shaving with it a few times. Taking a small juice glass, his practiced fingers began to stroke the blade inside the glass, with just enough bend to the metal to keep the blade edge at the right angle on inside curve of the glass. Back and forth, back and forth, then a well-practiced flip, and he stroked the other side. Taking it out of the glass, he examined each side, ran his finger along the side of the edge, and put the blade back in the razor. Ah, that’s good for a few more shaves!
“How did you do that?” I asked when I was about 8. “Oh, that’s just how you sharpen it, Bryan. A surgeon who can’t sharpen a blade wouldn’t be worth much, now would he?”
In an automated, computerized age, when so much is done for us, we forget that there are just some basics we need to know how to do for ourselves. There are lots of folks to “figure things out” for us, but a Christian who just follows whatever leader isn’t near the person he or she could be. Like Jacob, you have to wrestle with God; there’s no substitute. It’s like sharpening a blade, this business of sharpening a life. You have to press the prayer! Yourself! It's something no one else can ever do for you.
It's just how you sharpen it, you know. Yourself.
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