Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
So, how has the first month of the New Year named 2012 gone for you thus far?
Did you make any resolutions which are still intact? Did you make any which are hanging on by the slimmest of threads? Did you make any resolutions which have since fallen along the side of the roadway of best intentions?
What personal habits or behaviors in your life—which you needed to change—have you changed?
What needs in your family and community—which needed to be addressed—have you addressed?
What problems, turmoil, heartaches or injustices in the world—which need to be fixed—have you fixed or attempted to fix?
You know, I’m not sure any of those questions are fair to pose upon any of us. I mean, we all know that life itself is tough enough—morning until night—finishing each day by sliding into bed exhausted. I mean, just the daily living of life is always full-to-the-brim and fast-paced enough as it is by itself. And then to attempt to add anything else onto that journey in the way of time-consuming personal adjustments, or additional family responsibilities, or concerns within the community, nation or world—well it’s just too much to even think about, let alone do anything about.
At the end of it all while we are here, it will be what it is. Our lives will have left an imprint, in some form or fashion, on the world and on the lives around us. In some cases, it will be none at all—while those lives which could have been better or been lifted by us to the sunshine of a brighter day—well it will be as if we never lived. In some cases our imprint will be negligible at best and may be remembered as perhaps having made the slightest of differences if one looks closely enough. And, in some cases, the imprint we leave will have God smiling brightly upon all we have done and the lives who are better because we have lived. I wonder what it will be.
As we move into the next month of this New Year—and who knows how many more—it might do us all well to think about the sentiments expressed by the lyrics of the song “To Believe” by Matthew Evancho—
Before I lay me down to rest I ask the Lord one small request
I know I have all I could need,
But this prayer is not for me
Too many people on this day don’t have a peaceful place to stay
Let all fighting cease that your children many see peace
Wipe their tears of sorrow away.
To believe—in a day
When all hunger and war will pass away
To have hope amidst despair, that every sparrow’s counted
That you hear each cry and listen to each prayer
Let me try always to believe,
That we can hear the hearts that grieve
Please help us not ignore the anguished cries of the poor
Or their pain will never cease
To believe—in a day
When all hunger and war will pass away
To have hope amidst despair, that every sparrow’s counted
Help us do Your will oh Father, in the name of all that’s true
And we’ll see in one another the loving image of You.
And why not believe it can happen now? Why not let it begin now? Why not let the change we want to see in the world around us, begin with you, and begin with me, now?
Looking from this point forward, if you could change anything in your personal life (or within your personal sphere of influence)—what would it be?
Have you changed it yet? Have I?
Looking from this point forward, if you could change anything in the world (an injustice, poverty, famine, war, spreading the Gospel, child abuse and exploitation)—what would it be?
Have you changed it yet? Have I?
I pray that our answers will always be “yes.”
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2012. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
P.S. The link to the song “To Believe” written by Matthew Evancho, and sung by his niece, Jackie Evancho, is pasted below. You will be both blessed and inspired as you listen:
