This reminded me of last week when I was driving in the car and caught a 20-minute segment of the local NPR station airing a Shane Claiborne interview as part of their "Speaking of Faith" program. For those of you who are familiar with him and his way of thinking/living as a self-professed "ordinary radical" Christian, I don't think you have to agree with everything he says or does to find some of his fundamental ideas compelling. He talked about living in community, a popular concept among Christians, but with a perspective twist that challenged me. He was talking about how for him living in community meant surrounding himself with the kind of people he wished he could be like (well it was something generally like that, for what he actually said, go and listen to the interview or excerpts yourself :). And this perspective resonated with me, because in my life there are SO many people who do things or have personal characteristics that I admire - because they are so smart & learned, they are compassionate, they are prayer warriors, they are witty, they are organized, they are great parents/spouses/siblings/friends etc. I was carrying on to a friend recently about some friend's deeds that I greatly admired, and the friend interrupted me and said "and YOU are that person for me", and while I was simultaneously humbled and embarrassed, when I reflected on it later I realized that she was just trying to pay me a compliment, and I'm sure that there is someone in her life who would say the same thing to her, and on and on. The reality is that all our words and actions have the potential of affecting the lives around us, whether it is our family, children, peers, colleagues, friends or enemies. This might be a heady notion to think about our power as individuals, yet it is actually a power that we all possess - so hopefully you are striving to be a better person and as a result we will all benefit!
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