Aug302026
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My Dull Chisel

I asked my mother why he named me Peter. I thought she was going to tell me that she was drawn to St. Peter, the great Apostle and leader, but she didn’t. She said, “I did not pick your name before you were born as most of the parents do. I waited until you were born. I looked at your face, and you looked like a Peter. I am not sure I know what a Peter is supposed to look like, but I am glad she named me Peter because he is a great role model. My favorite feature about Peter is that he was always getting yelled at. Jesus yelled at him, “Get behind me, Satan.” Paul, the Apostle, scolded him for distorting the gospel. All the religious leaders at the temple yelled at him, “Stop doing what you are doing.” He managed to disappoint just about every religious person in the day, but he never quit. He always stayed with Christ. That is a great quality.

One of the doors was hinge-bound, so I grabbed my chisel. Apparently, someone had used it as a crowbar. It was so dull that it couldn’t cut through pudding. No, I didn’t throw it out. I brought it to my father, who knows how to sharpen chisels. When I handed it to him, I lamented, “Just look at what they did to my chisel.” He replied, “Every chisel that works hard gets dull. That is what happens. You just have to sharpen them.” When he said that, I thought that same principle must apply to people as well.

No one worked harder than the apostle Peter.  When Jesus walked on the water, Peter was the only disciple who jumped out of the boat to join his Lord. When Jesus asked his disciple, “Who do you say that I am.” Peter was the only one who raised his hand and answered Him. When Jesus was on the shore, Peter jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. Apparently, rowing the boat would take too long. When Peter heard that Jesus’ tomb was empty, he bolted out the door and ran. Only one other disciple accompanied him.

Yes, every chisel that works hard gets dull, and that was true with Peter. He cut the guy’s ear off in the garden. What was he thinking? When Peter was on the mountain of the transfiguration, he quipped something about building three tents. Moses and Elijah must have looked at him thinking, “Who is this guy? He is completely clueless as to what is going on.” At the Last Supper, Peter tells Jesus, “Not my feet.” I can see the other disciples motioning to him to be quiet, “Shhhhrrr, just go along with Him.”

My brother is a great woodworker, and at the end of the year he always throws out his chisels and buys new ones. He doesn’t sharpen his chisels. Peter would never want to be in my brother’s toolbox. My father never throws away a chisel. Every chisel that works hard deserves to be sharpened. And Peter knew that to be true with the Lord.

We will go out there and work hard, but it is very likely that we will disappoint a lot of people. If that happens, just remember, stay close to the sharpener. 

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