I've been pondering all week how important each one of us are. I had a professor that said, "All of our heads are better than any one of our heads." We each have something to contribute and are needed - each within our own realm of influence. How many people choose to be more passive or to kind of opt out of being .... well, productive?
I am not advocating pushing oneself past suitable limits, but I am afraid we do not rise to our capacities. It has struck me in recent years how important it is for each of us to reach out and uplift one another. I remember conducting my own personal experiment when I was in college. I observed how what I chose to do influenced others. When I walked across campus or from work to the hospital, if I kept my head down and didn't meet anyone's eyes, no one spoke or seemed to even recognize my presence. When I did nothing more than look the people in the eye and smile, I received returned smiles from each person that I met. I have continued to do a version of this experiment. However, it isn't an experiment now, but a habit to show hospitality. I choose to greet those I pass with both a smile and a greeting. As before, it is rare that I don't get a greeting in return. It does matter what we choose to do, even with something as simple as greeting others as we pass them.
If we could do this in our cars, think of the far reaching positive effects we might have on our roads. Road rage would become a thing of the past. Instead of shaking our fists or worse at one another, what if we were able to spread smiles? Would it make a difference?
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... I am a Mormon. In my church, we are invited to work in our wards and branches (congregations) through callings that the bishoprics extend. Before I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I had been active in the military Protestant communities and other churches. There is a common problem of the same few people doing everything that gets done...
I liked the analogy that one of my church leaders spoke of in a talk a few years ago. He spoke of trying to move a piano with some volunteers but not the right equipment. Though they tried many ways, they were unsuccessful. Finally, someone said for everyone to stop shifting around and just to lift where one stood.... This was successful and they were able to move the piano. This is what we are asked to do. We need to do our part - right now and with our present skills, weaknesses, strengths, aptitudes.....
We do not have to wait, we can lift one another now. We can be an influence for good in our families and communities now. We can choose to smile and greet all those that we meet. We can watch for opportunities to serve that are all around us now. Kind words spoken and even just a smile can change the world a little at a time. We can be a tool in the hand of the Master. We can pray for one another. We can be the answer to those prayers for someone.
My grandmother used to say that "can't never could do a thing." If we feel a need to do something, we need to seek God's will in doing it. If God puts it on our heart to do something, then He'll also show us the way to accomplish it. We only need to be willing. In the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 3:7 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
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