The Young and Old Lumberjack

“And Strive for Allah with striving due to Him.” (Qur’an 22:78)

I once read a story about a lumberjack contest that really stood out to me. A lumberjack is a person who cuts down trees for a lumber company or for personal use for fire, building a house, etc. As the story goes there was a young lumberjack by the name of Jack and a famous older lumberjack that most people called Grandaddy who were competing for a title for who could cut down the most amount of trees in the forest in a 24 hour period. The young lumberjack Jack was convinced that with his strength and his youth he could definitely out finesse the older Grandaddy. Before the contest began each lumberjack was put in different parts of the forest and a gun was fired to signal the contest had began. Jack cut tree after tree after tree and stopped only briefly to listen to how Grandaddy was doing. He could hear trees falling from the other side of the forest but he could also hear that Grandaddy’s saw was also off for periods at a time and he thought perhaps since he was old he needed to take many breaks. Jack cut and cut and cut and was convinced there was no way he could lose considering how fast and consistent his pace was. Eventually the sun set and the second gun was fired to signal the competition had ended.

Jack pridefully looked over the dozens of trees he had cut and headed over to Grandaddy’s side of the forest to be respectful, but also to feed his ego. But when he arrived he was shocked to see that the old man had cut many many more trees than him. Jack didn't understand how that was possible considering how often the old man took breaks. When Grandaddy was given the trophy, Jack pulled him aside and said, “How did you beat a young strong man like me?” Grandaddy smiled widely and said, “It’s easy really. I took breaks to sharpen my saw.” I thought this story would be a perfect one to share around the midway point through Ramadan because it reminds us to stop, reflect and sharpen our saw of awareness so that we don’t get sloppy with our practices. Jack lost the contest not because he wasn't capable but because he was so focused on what he was doing that he didn’t take the necessary time to do checks and balances. Jacks dull saw resulted in him working twice as hard while producing half as much as Grandaddy. Sometimes praying and doing spiritual practices can be harder than they need to be.