If you have access to any form of modern technology, you already know that you are continuously bombarded with other people’s opinions on everything from religion to politics to relationships to cooking to heaven-knows-what-else. It can feel overwhelming just trying to cope with the overload of information, let alone the torrents of passionate emotions that all forms of media seem to love to promulgate; and that’s not even factoring in trying to figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying. Personally, the stress of dealing with all this is why I spend at least one day a week completely disconnecting from my cell phone and all electronic communications and screens.
In addition to “input overwhelm”, we are also bombarded with horrific and terrifying acts of senseless violence, such as what we witnessed just this past weekend. Being human, such things frighten us. Of course we want to do something to help, but we seem so small and insignificant that we feel powerless to effect any real change, so incapable of making a difference in anything of real importance.
So much is unfolding at the national and international levels of our world that we can be engulfed by our distress in the face of it all; but the truth is, that is not where you and I exist, and that is not where we carry on our daily lives. Where we really live is in our own day-to-day world: our family, our friends, our work places, and our own neighborhoods. That is what impacts us directly, and that is where we can make a difference. You and I do not decide who becomes our next President. You and I are not in charge of ending the ceaseless conflicts taking place all over the globe. We have no power to fix the economy. We cannot make people stop using drugs or hurting one another. “The world” doesn’t even know – and will likely never know – that we were even here.
But the people I interact with on a daily basis know. They are the ones affected by me. My attitude, my words, my attention, my kindness, and my love (or the lack thereof) all either inspire and uplift the people around me…or discourage and dishearten them. I make a difference in my real “world” (as do you). And, not only do I make a difference to my real world, but the closer I am to someone, the bigger and more long-lasting difference I make.
This everyday life, filled with everyday people; this is where we were sent by God to live. That is where our lessons are, and that is where our divine service takes place.
The way I live can bring hope; the way I act can inspire; the way I face my adversities can strengthen others in theirs. My simple friendship can foster healing and forgiveness and faith. So can yours. Our presence in the lives of those around us makes all the difference, as will our absence once we are gone. How we treat the people in our life is, I believe, the greatest hope for our world.
Emerson said it better than I can:
To laugh often and much. To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.
May you and I both succeed in making a difference today.
Written by Rev Steven McAfee at ONE BY ONE COMMUNITY (click here for FB GROUP)
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash