Too Small To Make a Difference?October 5, 2013
A similar theme to something I touched on recently is that sometimes we look out into the world and wonder what difference we can make as a single person. The world is so large, and we're so small. Here are some counter arguments to that sense of hopelessness:
  | Our relative impact can be huge: If one really looks at all the opportunities they have, it's kind of mind boggling. You eat thousands and thousands of meals in your life. That's a lot of opportunity to be change. Many people interact with quite a few people in a day. Another big opportunity. Most people make hundreds of financial transactions a year -- each of those being an opportunity. And many of the decisions we make affect one or more people in our lives. The converse of the sense that we're so small is that it is rather humbling how many people we affect with our decisions. Sometimes I feel bashful that several people can be affected by a decision I make. |
| Seeds: Often in life we think in a linear fashion, but within our world, there are many examples of exponential growth. The seed metaphor is a good one: Often by our actions and love we are planting seeds in other's lives, and we never know how significant those seeds will be once they've grown to full maturity. A giant oak tree that towers over you was once just that: A seed. |
| God not us: Similar to thoughts I've written recently, it's not actually our job to orchestrate all of the change in the world. Our job is to be open and obedient. It's not actually us that has the best vision for how the world could/should work. We have a wiff of the concept, but God is at work on the large scale, and we need to take one step at a time as we try to open ourselves to God's vision. |
| In a similar vein, we wouldn't want to make all those decision ourselves anyway. I think it would be a terrible idea if the world listened to all of my ideas as truth. I'm probably wrong as often as I'm right. Thank goodness we have multiple voices in tension, and we have a variety of people with their own good ideas experimenting to try and figure out what works well. |
Burned AliveSeptember 28, 2013
Ironic: That the idea of being plunged into flame evokes images of hell, but it’s also an image used for us here and now, as we submit ourselves to God’s holy flame. As we continually examine our lives and our hearts and find spiritual cancers growing, we can yield those to God, exposing them to the refiner’s fire. As we do, it is as if part of our being is actually being consumed by flame and destroyed. What a fascinating concept. Violent yet beautiful imagery.
EyesSeptember 26, 2013
I was recently reminded of the power of human eyes. When we look into human eyes, we are not simply looking into a lump of flesh, we are looking into a spiritual being.
When God created the world, he left his signature in various places. One, is in nature as a whole. As so many have found, being inside buildings can stifle our receptivity to feeling the presence of God. But when we’re out in nature, and we see its beauty, we can’t help but notice God. Another place we see God is in prayer. When we still our minds from the distractions of this world and listen, we can feel the presence of God. And finally, as mentioned, when we look into the eyes of another human being, someone made in the image of God, it should not be surprising that it can be a spiritual experience.
It is good to be reminded of that. God is making himself known through our eyes. We can literally shine out from our eyes -- not just light entering our eyes, but divine presence radiating out from our eyes. When we smile at someone and share our presence with them, I think it can awaken them spiritually. It is as if we have shared a tiny piece of God. So let us not just share the gospel in word and deed, but share it through our eyes.
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