Lights upon the Water

I had a restless night last night, I was thinking about some things.  On Church on Sunday, the focus of the lessons seemed to be on doing service and being an influence on others.  This caused me to think about some of the things I am doing in my life and the influence I have on other people.  A well known scripture speaks of being a light set upon a hill and giving light to all those who see it.  I thought about what kind of light I am displaying in my daily actions.  Am I using my knowledge and experience to bless the lives of others?  Am I being a positive influence on other people?  A movie I recently have seen is "Soul Surfer," a movie that speaks of a teenage surfer in Hawaii who was attacked by a shark and lost her left arm.  Despite this tragedy she found a way to turn her experience into a blessing for others.  She became a light unto others, helping them gain a new perspective and to give them hope.  I have never had such a tragedy occur in my life, I still have all my limbs and live in good health; yet, I have the light of the gospel in my life.  I have specific experiences and challenges that I have overcome that I can glean from to help other people.  Despite these blessings, I still find myself coming up short when it comes to being a light to other people.  At times I feel like a light upon the water that is being tossed about the waves or sitting idle upon still water.  How could I be a light to others when my position changes based on the wind?  What I need to be is steady, fixed and immovable, like a lighthouse.

In a similar vein, I started reading Franklin Covey's book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and it's caused me to think about a few things, particularly about what principles and laws our lives are based on and how to change them from the inside out.  One particular example he used struck me as particularly significant.  It speaks of a battleship at sea in dense fog who sees a light in the distance appearing to come right at them.  Assuming it's another ship the battleship signals to the light to change it's course.  The light signals back that the battleship needs to change it's course and after some heated exchanges the captain signals that he is a battleship and the light needs to change it's course.  The light responds by saying, "I am a lighthouse."  With this added understanding and new perspective the battleship changed it's course.  The point of the story was to relate how often, in order to change, we need to change our perspective.  I use this example to illustrate how those who are sure and steadfast can influence others to change their course by standing in their place, refusing to be moved.

In conclusion, we are all both battleships and lighthouses.  We are all trying to improve our course each day while still trying to be a positive light unto others.  Whatever light we have, the question is, how hot and how high does it burn.  Another question is, how do we increase the light we shed forth.  My answer is put God first in all that we do.  If we can do that, everything else will fall into it's proper place or drop out of our lives.  We will have an increased measure of the spirit, even the light of Christ.  Our love of the Lord will increase and so will our recognition of the Lord's love for us.  Our self esteem will increase along with our confidence, and we will have the capability to do all things and accomplish much good.