The Lion in the Marble

This story has many versions…

A boy watched with fascination as a skilled sculptor used a hammer and chisel on a large block of marble. The boy went away; sometime later he returned. What had been a block of marble was now a lion. Amazed, the boy asked the sculptor, ‘How did you know there was a lion in the marble?’

Applications about unrealised potential, fresh insights may relate to…

…Children… In school assemblies I encouraged those who think that they’re nothing special. Their sculpture’s unfinished… but they can become a work of art.

Applications about unrealised potential, fresh insights may relate to…

…Children… In school assemblies I encouraged those who think that they’re nothing special. Their sculpture’s unfinished… but they can become a work of art.

…Adults with a low self-opinion… My friend Mick… recently diagnosed with dementia… feeling like a useless block of marble… can still be a beautiful lion.

…The dis-abled and dis-advantaged… The girl with Tourette’s, the wheel-chaired war-veteran, the Down’s Syndrome teenager, the messed up addict, the third-time-divorced… All contain beauty.

…The world… can be seen as our property to be manipulated according to our needs… or as a responsibility to nurture, and intentionally be made more beautiful.

…Time… We can be slaves of time, so busy that we don’t have time for anything… or time can be a gift, a beautiful opportunity, a source of endless possibilities.

Sometimes in the story the sculptor replies to the boy: ‘I knew this lion was in the stone, because I saw him there with my heart…’ If we move our focus from sculpture to the sculptor we see…

…Transformation… The skilled Sculptor sees potential brings unimaginable, permanent, beautiful transformation.

…Action… My friend Steve isn’t a Christian. He’s been homeless for several weeks. Christian friends prayed about his situation. He now has his ‘dream home’. He believes that prayer made a difference, that there’s a master Sculptor at work.

…Me… It’s a personal story… This morning I read about Jeremiah. God says, ‘I’ve chosen you to be my man.’ Jeremiah says, ‘I think you’ve got it wrong.’ God says, ‘No. I’ve chosen you. I know your potential…’  He says that to me too.