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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, my favorite super hero is Batman, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lesson I learned by studying a boat oar.
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What I Learned Yesterday:
That’s right, I studied a boat oar. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I must have the most boring life ever if I spend time studying boat oars. Well, here’s the story.
A few years ago my pastor began kayaking. Not me. I went with him once. I had a good time and would love to go again, but I don’t really have a desire to do it regularly. However, he’s really in to it. One of the cool things we have here in Oklahoma City is a world class boating facility. A few years ago we voted to dam up the Oklahoma River that runs through the downtown Oklahoma City area and create what we now call the boathouse district.
We have rowing competitions here and even have Olympians from all around the world come here to train. We’re currently adding a white water rapids course and some other improvements. As you can imagine, more and more people in our area are discovering the fun that can be had in various types of row boats.
Yesterday my pastor brought an oar to church to use an object lesson. I was mesmerized by it. Since I haven’t really spent a lot of time around boats, I had never seen an oar like this one. It was at least 10 feet long.
I mean, at first I really didn’t give it much thought. It was a boat oar. But then I noticed something odd about the tip of the blade; it was a different color wood than the rest of the blade. I then noticed that the blade was not flat, but curved. Not only was it curved, but there were two ridges that ran parallel down the length of the blade. The ridges stopped 2 or 3 inches from the edge of the blade. I then noticed that the area from the end of the raised areas to the tip of the blade was not solid, but was made up of several other pieces. In fact, as best as I could tell from my position, the blade of the oar was made up of 10 different pieces of wood.
I then diverted my attention to the rest of the device. I wondered if there were just as many pieces being used elsewhere. As my eyes moved up the shaft of the oar it was easy to see that it was made up of at least two pieces of wood. The shaft was fitted with a metal collar so it could attach to a boat, and the end opposite the blade had been fitted with some sort of covering to aid in gripping the oar.
In total, I counted at least 14 different pieces. Each piece had been planned out, designed, crafted, and fitted together to make this oar perform a task efficiently.
Here’s what I learned.
At first glance, the oar looked like one piece. In a way, it is. It is referred to as a singular object: an oar. Without the other pieces, the oar would not function efficiently. Each piece of the oar needed to fulfill its purpose in order to make the oar function.
What do you think is the coolest part of the oar?
Maybe it’s the blade. What part of the blade? Is it the tip of the blade that is made of a different type of wood? Maybe its one of those ridges. There was another piece of wood that fit between the ridges and the tip. It looked important. Maybe that’s the coolest part.
Perhaps you like the handle area of the shaft. After all, that’s where it all begins. That’s where the energy of the rower is transferred into the oar. Or maybe you fancy the collar. The collar has a hugely important role. Without the collar, the energy from the rower wouldn’t transfer through the oar and into the water. The oar wouldn’t be able to pivot and all the energy would be wasted.
What about the other parts? If you think about it, the shaft of the oar is incredibly important. If it wasn’t there, the oar would be too short to reach the water. The boat would be about as effective as a T-Rex trying to do pushups.
As I sat there and contemplated the oar, I really developed an appreciation for the craftsmanship of the oar and how each piece worked together seamlessly. I then realized that there was one other piece that had been staring me in the face the whole time, yet I’d failed to see it.
Can you think of what it is?
The entire oar was covered in a clear coat of varnish. The varnish is invisible by design. It allows the beauty of all the pieces to be seen and protects them from the otherwise harmful effects of the water. Although it’s invisible, the oar would not last long without it.
As I reflected on my observations, I was filled with thoughts about how this oar is a great example of what a team looks like. Some members of the team are in the midst of the action. They aren’t where the rubber meets the road per se, they’re where the wood meets the water.
Other members of the team are there supplying the energy that drives the team and yet others are making sure that energy is focused in the right way. Still others are the extension of all those things, joining the ends together to make sure everyone’s efforts aren’t wasted. And, of course, there’s always those behind the scenes folks. Those folks that seem to never get seen, or maybe don’t want to. But without those folks the whole team would soon fall apart.
We’re all part of a team at our jobs, schools, churches, and homes. We all have a part to play and the rest of our team is depending on us. So get out there and row, row, row your boat to the absolute best of your ability!
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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