Early in life, we may have had dreams about being Superman, or at least being able to fly. Later we may have wanted to be an NFL player or an entertainment idol. Or we might have set our sights on being a millionaire by age 35. Whatever the goal, we were convinced that it would be ours.
For most of us, reality has painted a different picture, not only because we found the Superman role already taken but because we have changed what we want. While some still intend to be rich and famous, others have taken a more altruistic approach. Many men and women want most of all to leave a legacy of having made a difference in other people’s lives.
There are a number of ways to make a difference: educate people, introduce them to Jesus, provide health care and instruction, mentor young people into successful careers, feed the hungry and teach then how to produce food crops. The list goes on and on, limited only by our lack of imagination or our unwillingness.
There’s another way to make a difference in people’s lives. “Treat them well.” I watched the 1964 movie version of “My Fair Lady” again recently. This is the Cinderella story of two life-long bachelors who make a bet that Professor Higgins, a master linguist, can/cannot turn a ragged girl with a harsh cockney accent into a well-spoken young lady able to convince members of high society that she is one of them. Eliza Doolittle, the girl who sells flowers on the street corners of London, tells the professor, “The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.”
Our household pets respond to loving attention; even wild animals can sometimes be persuaded through gentle entreaty to make their way onto the human scene. By what wild reckoning then, do we conclude that people—real men and real women and real young people and children—need less caring treatment than that? People are not for ignoring, or for deceiving, or for shaming. People are not for hitting, not for yelling at, not for growling at.
Respecting all people, to some degree, is what we must do because we share our humanity. We may have widely different values from others; we may not honor the choices they have made, but even so, we can seek to understand and to feel compassion. People with whom we have relationship, or want to build relationship, must be treated with special attention to the potential lying in them—not as ragged little street urchins but as someone worth knowing and even esteeming.
An unknown monk, living in the 12th century, wrote: "When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." We can make a difference.
MaryMartha
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Source for monk's story: http://www.agiftofinspiration.com.au/stories/personalgrowth/Change.shtml
Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com
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