…You’re Here For Them

If you think God is all about Sunday mornings, you’re doing it wrong.

Your religion, whatever belief system you choose to believe in, is a code of instructions for how to live your life.  That’s the life you live 24/7/365.  So if you think your religious beliefs don’t apply at the office, or in traffic, or in personal relationships, you’re doing it wrong.

I was sitting in church one morning a a while back.  The church itself is a beautiful one, lovely southwestern buildings set in a well-heeled urban environment, perched on the side of a hill with mountain views all around. Sometimes, in the evenings, I’ve come by to take pictures at sunset, or to commune with God while wandering quietly through the campus.  This particular morning I was there for worship.  It was before the services had begun, and as I sat there watching people trickle in, friends greeting friends, servants preparing for the service to come, I was thinking about God.  I was offering small prayers, thinking about what I have learned about Him, contemplating what He desires for me and from me, and as I was doing so, a thought came upon me like a thunderbolt.

“They’re not here for you.  You’re here for them.”

I don’t know what the voice of God sounds like; I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it.  But this thought appeared in my mind with such incredible power and clarity that I’m willing to consider that I might have.  Like many aspects of God, I believe there are layers of meaning to this idea.  But there is at least one meaning that is crystal clear: I was not put on this earth to take, I was put here to give.

There are many, many ways to give.  Many of them are small ways.  I’d like to make the world a better place for my having passed through it.  I’ve heard it said that we’re no more than three generations away from being completely forgotten.  (Think about it; what do you know about your great-grandmother?)  I’m not interested in making my ‘mark’ on things.  I’ll have no legacy.  I recall thinking the other night that perhaps what I’d like thought about me when I’m gone is that I was worth putting up with.  I just want to be a tiny positive force in the world.

I’ve previously addressed my belief that selfishness and greed are rampant in my nation today, and are at the root of many of our ills.  Giving opposes that.  And there are many ways to give.  Money comes to mind immediately, but it’s only one method, and by far not the best one.  (Time is costless yet priceless.  It cannot be purchased, and yet must be spent.  When you give of your time, you give of your life.  You give something that no-one else in the entire world has to offer.  Consider then how you choose to spend the time you are given.)  You can give of your expertise, or your experience, or of the sweat of your brow.  You can give to one person, or to a group of many.  You can give all day long, in many tiny ways.  You can find ways to give that cost you little but can make a huge difference to another person.  You can give of your emotions, or of your willingness to listen, or of your desire to share.  You can make a difference, or be content to merely make things better than they were before you gave.

If you choose to give of yourself, your time, talent or treasure, you must accept that you’re going to get taken advantage of.  Some people will see you as a ‘mark’.  It’s going to happen.  But how you respond to that situation is up to you.  I’ve found it to be good advice to not let other people make your decisions for you.  By that I mean, don’t respond in kind, don’t treat the other the way they treated you.  When someone cuts you off in traffic, or takes advantage of you, cuts in front of you in line, or belittles you verbally, how you choose to respond is up to you; don’t give that freedom to choose away by simply responding in kind.  And don’t let their cruelty and short-sightedness change who and what you are.

So that’s the thought that was given to me.  “They’re not here for you.  You’re here for them.”  And now it’s been given to you, Gentle Reader.  What will you choose to do with it?  No-one knows you were here today.  No-one knows you read this post.  You’re free to ignore this thought, and go on with your life.  Or you can choose to give; something, somewhere, to someone.  Maybe to choose to continue to give, to make it an ongoing part of your life.  Times like this are when you decide who you are, who you are going to become.  So…