"To the world, you might be just one person but to one person, you might be the world."

I bought a card last week that has this saying written on it, author unknown. I bought it without thinking about who I’d send it to, just knowing that the right moment would arrive. It capsulizes the Geroge Bailey syndrome….from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. We might never really know what our lives mean to others in the greater scheme of the world until -like George Bailey we get the chance to see what the world would be like without us.  We walk through our days not being fully aware of the impact we make upon the world. We do our work, our play, our lives, not really being fully aware of how our lives truly touch anothers’.

Yesterday I heard someone tell a story about something I did for her that I hardly remember doing. I had no idea that a very simple act, done at just the right moment, could have made such an impact on her life. It was nothing big but to her it meant a great deal, in fact provided a kind of turning point for her.

I leave this morning for a three day retreat for the Board of Ordained Ministry, interviewing people who have heard God’s call on their life to become ministers in the United Methodist Church. These are people whose greatest hope is to make a difference in the world, in lives,fulfilling that call. Many have come to this place through hardship and sacrifice,for others it has been a very well defined path.

All of us, I believe, have the great hope of making a difference in the world, bringing love and kindness, hope and courage, a simple sense of mercy and comfort to those we know or those who come into our daily walk.I believe the Holy calls each of us to see how being just one person is a gift and how reaching out to others might bring the world to that person. In this call, in this living, I believe the Author is anything but unknown.

***I may or may not be able to write the next couple of days….it will depend on the internet connections.