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Michael Angelo was one day passing along one of the streets of Florence, when he saw a piece of marble which had been wrought upon by some unskillful workman, hacked and cut and spoiled, and then abandoned, – thrown away as worthless. The stone lay now among the waste and rubbish. It was of finest Carrara marble. No doubt many an artist had looked at it, struck by the fineness of its quality, but it was ruined and nothing could now be made of it. So it lay there, rejected, spoiled, useless, until Michael Angelo saw it. At once his eye perceived the possible beauty in it. Now, if you visit Florence, one of the noblest works of art you will see there will be Angelo’s magnificent representation of the young David. Life is in every feature. The statue is one of the most wonderful works of art in all Italy. When first unveiled it caused an almost unparalleled sensation. Yet that wondrous statue, so like life, so fine a piece of art, was cut from that spoiled, rejected, abandoned, blackened stone.
Is not this story an illustration of what happens in many human lives? They contain noble material for manhood, but they have been spoiled, marred, and are thrown aside. No one thinks of anything good ever coming out of them. Then Jesus passes by and his eye sees the possibilities of beauty, the elements of noble life and manhood in them, and he takes the soiled lives out of the dust and lifts them up until they shine in radiant splendor, fashioned into the beauty of his own image.