[TheForge] How tongs came to be (Talmud)

[Saint Phlip]

On 9/4/06, Bruce Freeman <freemab222 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> If there be a god, she is embodied in us all.  Man
> created technology, from the cleaving of flint,
> through the smelting of iron (and what genius that
> must have taken!) through modern technology.
> Attributing  all this to a god is as illogical as
> declaring the impossibility of a computer to boot
> itself up.  (Wait!  Maybe God intervenes every time a
> computer boots up!)
>
> Sorry if this sounds sacreligious.  I don't disrespect
> religious people, just some of the nonsense they
> expect the rest of us to believe.
>
> Bruce
> OR/NJ

Ah, now Bruce, you're taking it too seriously ;-) I sent it along
because I thought it was a rather lovely story, akin to tales about
how other aspects of our world came to be, regardless of the culture
telling the story.

As far as the original hammer and anvil, as I understand it, in many
primitive cultures, a rock makes a good anvil, as a rock makes a
useable hammer. And, tongs can be made from wet, green sticks- very
short lived, but none the less functional. As for a hot fire, a fire,
a pit, and a blowpipe will work.

Much as we effete moderns try to pretend it isn't so, our modern
technology merely gives us the capacity to do things more efficiently
if we use it right. The capacity to do things in the first place comes
from within.

Or, have you never seen the expression on the face of a newbie on the
forge, having made hir first project, when the light hits, they look
at what they've made, and discover, "I can DO this!!!" ?

-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Has anyone seen my temper?
I seem to have misplaced it at Stalag XXXV....