It took him three and a half years of working daily and toiling arduously to finish me, but he did it. In the early summer of 1504, I, David, was completed. Standing erect in mighty majesty, I was a symbol of hope for the Florentine Renaissance, a budding revival of great human achievement that was endangered by the iron-fisted traditionalists of Italy. Michelangelo explained to me as he worked that the man I depicted had been a courageous defender of the truth and of God's kingdom long ago. As a boy, this David had faced a foe many times his size and strength. I was created to remind the good people of Florence that no obstacle is insurmountable when we put ourselves in the Hands of God, the Great Creator and Master.
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| We truly are our Master's masterpiece. |
I am living proof of that. I was a hard-willed, stubborn block of stone, doomed to crumble in a dusty old warehouse until I was discovered by a Master. Once I learned to act, to submit my will to his, and not just be acted upon, a world of understanding and hope blossomed before my eyes (so to speak). No longer was I doomed to impregnable uselessness; no longer was I destined to be rubble; no longer was I consigned to the unfulfillment of my true potential. This Master, this caring, honest, dedicated craftsman shaped my destiny forever.
I hope my tale has brought to light the struggles that everyone's heart, stone or flesh, must endure. Remember, my softer-skinned friends, we are all shaped by a Master. He knows best. When we love Him and serve Him and submit ourselves to His will, He will polish us and craft us, and, like a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, we will all become our Master's masterpiece.
The End
