Learning from Thomas Edison

Last night I watched a DVD that was a biography of the life of Thomas Edison. I love history and learning about the lives people have lived intrigues me. As I was learning more about Thomas Edison several things came to me about his life. This man certainly had a gift from God. He was brilliant as an inventor. Thomas Edison was a hard worker with a spirit of endurance. He used failures to learn and apply to new inventions. Once he was working on a storage battery. He had experimented with this battery 10,000 times. Imagine being so persistent you continue trying at your goal 10,000 times! A friend was trying to encourage Thomas Edison after he had reached the 10,000 time. Thomas Edison replied, “I haven’t failed. I have simply found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas Edison became very wealthy, he was internationally famous. He had 3 months of formal schooling then was homeschooled by his mother the rest of his school years. Later in life he was given honorary degrees from several colleges.
For all the good things I could see in his life, such as perseverance, as I thought about Thomas Edison one scripture kept coming to mind. “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and loose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? “ Mark 8:39 Thomas Edison was a man who made his work his life. He most certainly lost the hearts of his children. One of his daughters was 6 before she said she truly realized that yes, she did have a father. I have not found any indication that Thomas Edison was a man who walked with God. He gained everything men dream of in this world, only to loose it all when he stepped into eternity. To me that’s the most important lesson to learn. Intelligence without out God is like a piece of paper blowing in the wind. While you were holding onto it and able to read the paper you thought it was worth everything, once it blew out of your hand you were left with nothing. That’s what the things of this world bring. Happiness (so you think) while you are holding it. Once you step into eternity it’s gone and nothing will bring it back.