The Founder of Apple and His Formative Core by Pastor Gregg Donnelly

When I read a book review and find it to be rather intriguing, I try to read the book first before I might buy it. As you probably guessed, I am very thankful for libraries because sometimes the review is better than the book itself.

Just a few days ago, I read an interesting review of Walter Isaacson’s book, “Steve Jobs.” Because I was facing a communigram deadline, I will highlight from Gordon MacDonald’s review of the book.

Steve Jobs was born to an unmarried couple who chose to give him up for adoption. The newborn child came to the home of a working class couple, Paul and Clara Jobs of San Francisco, who lavished great love and care on him.

Paul Jobs was a man of exceptional mechanical and carpentry skill. When Steve was old enough, father and son began to tinker with cars, build furniture, and repair things around the house. In their time together, the father planted a powerful work ethic in his son. All work he learned,

was to be marked with excellence. When they painted a fence together, Steve learned that the unexposed side was to be treated with the same thoroughness as the visible side.

When he began to attend school, he became bored very easily. In his boredom, his behavior revealed a “problem child.” He could have easily been labeled a rebellious delinquent and tossed under the academic bus. Fortunately
a discerning teacher saw something in him
and under her guidance, Jobs quickly became productive in academics. It was an amazing turnaround due to her shift in her teaching style! The author writes about a life changing incident when Jobs was 13 years old. “The July 1968 Life magazine published a shocking cover showing a pair of starving children in Biafra. Jobs took it to Sunday School and confronted the church’s pastor, “if I raise my finger, will God know which one I’m going to raise even before I do it?”

“The pastor answers, “Yes, God knows everything.”
“Jobs then pulled out the Life cover and asked, “Well, does God know about this and what’s going to happen to those children?”
“Steve, I know you don’t understand, but yes, God knows about that.”
The pastor’s answer was not sufficient for the young teen’s intellect and Jobs left unsatisfied. According to the author, Jobs walked away from church that day and never returned. For the pastor, that brief conversation was likely a forgettable moment. Yet it was a turning point that would point Steve Jobs toward eastern philosophy.

Proverbs 25:11 comes to mind: “a word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” In my conversations over the years how often have I spoke words without the “aptly” tag?
Who knows when a spoken word moves another toward the right path...or the wrong direction? How careful are we with our words? How careful are we with the young and the easily influenced? Think of the formative years of Steve Jobs: a birth mother, a loving father, a wise teacher, an undiscerning pastor?

Since his death last summer at age 56, many Steve Jobs’ quotes have surfaced. I close with one that stuck with me:, “if you live each day as if it is your last day---someday you will be right” That is good advice for all of us!!!