Hackers and Plodders

“A slacker’s way is a thorny hedge,

but the path of the upright is a highway.”

~ Proverbs 15:19

Physically, one way is no different than the other. It is the same way—the same project, the same challenge, the same opportunity. The difference is—and I hate to use the word because it sounds so “Tony Robbins”—but the difference is attitude. The difference is in perspective—how one sees it. Of course the slacker is looking for obstacles. He is looking for all the reasons why he should not go forward. The thorns are all in his head. They are there because he sees them there. He projects them, imagines them to be in the way. He is looking for an excuse not to proceed.

The path of the upright is no different than that of the slacker. They’re both the same path. He sees the obstacles. He observes the challenges. It is not that he stumbles blindly ahead. He looks and he perceives, but he does not let the challenges stop him. He prepares for them. He packs machete. He has a plan. Then he hacks away at the thorns and pushes ahead. He may not reach his goal, but surely no one has ever gone this far forward before. He blazes a trail that others will follow. Lord, we need people like these—people who see the obstacles but refuse to let these stop them. Greater than the challenges are the needs to be met, the goals to be achieved, the help to be rendered, the good to be done.

God give us hackers and plodders!