Teach Me, A Staple Manufacturer, How to Pray

Teach Me, A Staple Manufacturer, How to Pray December 9, 2016

This afternoon as I sorted through electronically submitted final papers and stapled them together, my stapler ran out. It’s an old technology but one that has yet to be superseded by something fancy and electronic. But I don’t get out much. Maybe smart phones also bind pages together.

What dawned me as I refilled my four-inch Bostitch personal stapler was that my box of Swingline Standard Staples will likely last me to the end of my teaching career. Heck, the box of 5,000, with 210 per strip, will probably outlast my mortal frame.

Which leads to a question I have asked myself often about ladder manufacturers. How do these people stay in business? Companies that make staples and ladders have a limited demand for their product. If I purchase staples once every 20 years, Swingline is not making any money from me even though they provide a valuable service. On the ladder front, how many homes need more than one ladder? If you as company owner are tempted to build in obsolescence, be careful. Ladders that break may bring you several personal injury lawsuits.

To make matters worse for those Christian staple and ladder manufacturers, how do you ever pray, “Lord, Come Quickly”? Since your business needs a lot of time to develop new customers — more people who work in offices or first-time home buyers — can you genuinely hope and pray for an end to conditions that make your business possible?

I get it. When Jesus returns, there’ll be no more tears, sorrow, staples, and ladders. But praying “Thy Kindgom Come” does throw a big wrench into business plans built on slow growth.

But maybe there’s another kind of hope — mergers and acquisitions.

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