Independence and Influence

            Today is Independence Day.  There is much to be said for independence.  We all want to feel like we’re independent, like we can do take care of ourselves, and in many ways that’s a good thing.

            There are ways, though, in which we need to recognize our dependence.  None of us is completely independent:  I’d guess that no one reading this grows all their own food, makes all their own clothes, provides all their own fuel, etc.  Even if we pay for all those things, we are still dependent on someone else producing them; after all, our dollars won’t do us much good if there is nothing for us to buy with them.  In addition, of course, we are also always dependent on God.

            There’s another aspect of dependence, too.  Just as we depend on others, others depend on us as well.  None of us lives a life that is without influence on other people, whether we realize it or not.

            Let me give you an example.  A couple of weeks ago (was it only two weeks ago?), I had my last Sunday at The ARK United Methodist Church.  The church had a farewell potluck, which is pretty common, and people said nice things about Wanda and me, which is also pretty common (after all, they’d scarcely say bad things about us when we were leaving).  What struck me, though, was that a couple of people whom I would not have expected to say anything got up to speak, and they said things far nicer than politeness would have demanded.  They were people who I thought liked us well enough, but people on whose lives we had no idea we’d made an impact.

            That made me feel pretty good, of course.  Then, though, I started thinking.  If I can make a positive impact on someone without realizing it, I can also make a negative impact on someone without realizing it.  How often have I done that?  How often have I said or done something thoughtlessly or carelessly and hurt someone without being aware of it?  How many times have I been rude to someone, not because I intended to be, but because I just wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing?  How many times have I been distracted, my mind elsewhere, when someone needed my time?

            That’s just the things I’ve done.  What about the things I’ve failed to do?  What about the times I got too wrapped up in myself and what I was doing to notice the needs of others?  What about when I was aware of those needs, but pushed them aside because I just didn’t feel like doing anything?  What about times when someone needed me to show God’s love to them, and I failed to do it?

            None of us is perfect, of course, and the point is not for us to beat ourselves up.  The point is that we need to be aware that each of us influences others every day.  That influence can be either positive or negative, but it is always there.

            Others are depending on us, whether we know it or not, and whether they know it or not.  Let’s try to be a positive influence for God for all of them.