Have you ever just thought about your place in the world? In the universe? I mean really just sat down and thought about how many people inhabit our planet alone...how many organisms we share our environment with...how many cells exist on planet Earth?
If you don't know, the population of Earth exceeds 7 billion. There are something like ten trillion cells in a single human body. As my Chemistry professor said, when you take a shower you are bathing in more water molecules than there are stars in the universe. We are surrounded by miracles.
Does that make anyone else feel...insignificant?
I was at church this past Sunday for the first time in much too long. The "lesson" of the day was kindness. Learning about kindness in church...original, right?
BUT - I have to say that this was by far the best understanding of kindness I have come across thus far.
This was a new church, one that is more than two hours away from my house that I will probably only go to a couple more times. But I will never forget what I learned. I learned how to be a genuinely kind person. A kind person who will act on their kindness.
It's so easy to be an innocent bystander. To sit by and watch someone else in pain or suffering and say, "Gee, I feel bad for them." But where does that get us? How does it make me a kind person to watch someone who needs help but not give that person help?
This lesson wasn't just about being kind. It was about being kind like Jesus. Now when we heard this, we all scoffed. No one is kind like Jesus, we all thought.
But if we all at least tried to be kind like Jesus? Wouldn't you think the world would be a much better place? I certainly think so.
Suddenly in the middle of service, a song from ten years ago popped into my head. A song from church camp singing about WWJD - What Would Jesus Do?
All of a sudden I realized that that's me. I'm that person who stands there thinking, "Gee, I feel bad for them. But I (insert myriad of excuses here)"
Back to the whole "we are insignificant in this world" concept. That part is true. Physically, we don't matter - we are matter. But what we can do does matter. The impact we can have does matter.
That is my challenge to myself this week. To not only understand people's problems but to carry some of their burden on my back. Do I have my own burdens? Of course, everyone does. But mine are so minimal compared to others, I am so blessed compared to others, that I can afford their burden.
I may be 1 in 7 billion, but to one person I can be more than that. To many people I can be more than that.