Influence


            If someone had asked me about running a few years ago I would have said “never”. However, I have several friends who are runners and I have been intrigued by their passion for the activity. As I have started to participate in the running culture, I am beginning to understand the passion behind it. I don’t really see myself running a marathon but I no longer say “never”. I was inspired and influenced by my friends and by the desire to improve my health so I can look forward to productive retirement years (still more than a decade away).

            Who do you influence? I had an interesting discussion with a young friend this week; she is not a believer. She doesn’t believe that we have purpose or that we meet people for a reason. She does believe each of us is a singular being without effect and when we die it is all over. I was saddened. I shared my beliefs and pointed out that she has influenced people and that in turn will influence other people in a ripple effect. It gave her a thoughtful pause which gave me hope that I might have a positive effect on her life.

            We might never know the impact we have made on others; maybe we’ll find out in heaven. Wouldn’t it be awesome to learn that one act of kindness or generosity rippled out to another person that you’ve never met on earth but whose soul thanks you in heaven?

            If we consider this idea with each word or action we take, we can influence the world. This brings to mind two bible verses:

            Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

            Matthew 6: 19-21 ““Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

            Can we even imagine what treasure in heaven will be like? I once heard a tale of a wealthy man who was at heaven’s gate and he was clutching a bar of gold. St Peter told him he didn’t need it in heaven. The man said “ I must have it; I worked so hard for it I cannot let go of it.” After much discussion and skeptical looks from Peter and some angels, the man won his hard fought fight to take the bar of gold with him. As he walked through the gates with his bar of gold, an angel leans toward Peter and whispers, “Why is a paving stone so important?”
Posted by

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How are you?

Image
            When I wake, one of the first things I do is say, “Good morning God!” Some days are more enthusiastic than others. When I greet another human being, I usually follow that greeting with, “how are you?” This morning it occurred to me that I don’t ask God how he is. I have been contemplating this idea, how are you God? Obviously, given his attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience it is easy to follow the train of thought that he has everything in check. Despite that; I think of him in human terms and I can’t help but feel he is; not mad but disappointed (cringe). When he looks at creation, like a parent gazing on the wreckage of a kid’s toy room, wouldn’t there be disappointment?             As I contemplated that, my meandering mind led me to consider guilt. The guilt that leads to the disappointment of others. Every culture I have known lays claim to guilt; Lutheran guilt, Catholic guilt, Jewish guilt, Italian guilt and so on. Truth be told, we’re all guil
Read more

Out of the Mouth

Image
  Genesis 3:14 “God said to Moses, ‘I AM who I AM.’ This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I Am has sent me to you.”             I feel the need to make a disclaimer statement up front as I can see what I will write in these next few sentences could be misconstrued. This writing is not claiming that man is God although I will say, that if you have claimed the Holy Spirit lives in you, that identifies that God is in you too.             How many times a day do you use the phrase “I am…”? Probably much more than you or I realize. This is how God identified Himself to Moses. “I AM who I AM” We often refer to God as the great I AM, which He is. Going back to how often we use the phrase, for myself those two words are often followed with denigrating words like; so stupid, so foolish, so dumb, so angry, so hurt, so fill in the blank. What if each time we thought about those two words and how we identify ourselves we replaced “I AM” with “God is” most of us (I make this assumptio
Read more

Masterpiece

Image
              As a young person, I was fond of painting, not great at it but reasonable. I set it aside when I fell in love and got married. In these days of isolation I needed to find some other ways to occupy myself other than baking and decided to get back to my paint brushes.   To get used to handling the brushes again I got myself a paint by number,             If you have never tried one of these let me give you a little insight. You receive a canvas with an image divided up into numbered areas and little pots of paint with corresponding numbers. Then you begin a sort of scavenger hunt trying to fill in all the spots of a particular number. Sounds simple enough, however some of these areas are so tiny they are easily overlooked. The tiny spots are important though, they give that little flourish that can draw the eye or round out an object.             Why do I tell you about this? As I dove into this project, a great life analogy was revealed to me and I do love a good word
Read more