Impacting God's Kingdom One Word At A Time!
A Continent of Islands
I once heard an interesting axiom which says, “Though no man is an island, all the world is an ocean.” Now whether this is the actual axiom or a derivation thereof, I’m not sure. But that takes nothing from the point that this statement makes in either case.
Have you ever tried to stand alone? To stand as a single, solitary thing in the midst of the grand scheme with no one and nothing to support you. To stand under your own frail strength and your own finite ability saying in pride, ‘I need nothing and no one.’ I can only imagine the isolation of that kind of stand. But then what happens when you must move? How do you move when you’re drawing from every scratch of your nerve and sinew just to remain upright? In final, I feel, standing alone is hard, but walking alone is impossible.
But am I saying that you should surround yourself with just anyone as long as they are people? Absolutely not. I have often said to people that I know personally, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you a mirror.” This is to say that you are very tangibly defined by the people who you associate with. When someone who has never met you is introduced to you by someone who is of a good reputation, you will automatically be received better than if you’re spoken of by a recognized reprobate.
In addition to that, the people who you surround yourself with are the ones who will one day have to carry you through the rough and rugged times in life when you are not in a position to carry yourself. And you likewise to them. It’s when you’re at the lowest point that you find out who really has your interests at heart and those are the kinds of people you need to keep around.
If you think about it, people as a race have always had the need for a circle of support. Jesus Christ himself had a dozen very close friends. Those twelve disciples out of the original multitude that said they wanted to follow him were the ones that showed it after all was said and done…. taking exception to Judas Iscariot of course. Even further following this example, perhaps the only thing man does have full capacity to do under his own strength is to die.
But in death, the stories of our lives are told by those who survive us. The good, the bad, the truth of us is told by our friends and loved ones who saw us in our times of great power. Who knew us in our times of great pain. Who carried us in our times of struggle and were carried by us in theirs. This passing on of our life stories and the continuation of our memories is part of our legacy. But he who truly makes himself an island can have no legacy, for there is no one to remember him.
You will hardly ever hear the legacy of a hermit. What could be said of one who makes himself a vagabond and tries to totally separate himself from mankind? Who was he? What was his name? Why did he drift away to the abyss of the ocean’s center far away from the warmth of human comfort? Who does he have to remember who and what and how he was in life? How can we remember a man who made it his mission in life to separate himself from the rest of the world?
Is this an extreme example? Perhaps. But is it really all that extreme?
There are so many of us who live our lives in the middle of a crowd but never do anything to affect a change within it. What is the point of you being in that crowd if no one but you ever knows it? What’s the point of having name if no one ever mentions it? What’s the point of existing in this world if you don’t use the tools, time and talents that God gave you to make this world a better place?
And it doesn’t take for you to have the entire planet stand up and shout your name.
It doesn’t take for your entire city to declare a day in your honor.
It doesn’t take for everyone you ever met to sing songs of your greatness…….
But is there someone that you see everyday that you’ve never said hello to? How about when you’re at home with your family? Is there anything that you do that makes them say, “This person has something to give to the world.”
And it may not even be the world, but at least your world.
Make the day brighter for the ones around you. Show them that you do have a positive influence in the world and if your name never shows up in neon lights, then at least you won’t be forgotten by those you were with from the start of it.
No, they will not forget your name if you give it to them and make it mean something. And then your legacy becomes a part of theirs, and theirs to someone else’s and so on and on until your life has affected people who you never even met.
This creates a network of people. An endless chain of a billion plus islands that stand as a continent made to remain in this vast ‘whole world ocean’ as opposed to a single person laying as an island against the ruthless squall and maelstrom to be beaten, battered, buffeted and swallowed by life’s unforgiving sea…..
Never to be remembered because he was close to no one.
Have you ever tried to stand alone? To stand as a single, solitary thing in the midst of the grand scheme with no one and nothing to support you. To stand under your own frail strength and your own finite ability saying in pride, ‘I need nothing and no one.’ I can only imagine the isolation of that kind of stand. But then what happens when you must move? How do you move when you’re drawing from every scratch of your nerve and sinew just to remain upright? In final, I feel, standing alone is hard, but walking alone is impossible.
But am I saying that you should surround yourself with just anyone as long as they are people? Absolutely not. I have often said to people that I know personally, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you a mirror.” This is to say that you are very tangibly defined by the people who you associate with. When someone who has never met you is introduced to you by someone who is of a good reputation, you will automatically be received better than if you’re spoken of by a recognized reprobate.
In addition to that, the people who you surround yourself with are the ones who will one day have to carry you through the rough and rugged times in life when you are not in a position to carry yourself. And you likewise to them. It’s when you’re at the lowest point that you find out who really has your interests at heart and those are the kinds of people you need to keep around.
If you think about it, people as a race have always had the need for a circle of support. Jesus Christ himself had a dozen very close friends. Those twelve disciples out of the original multitude that said they wanted to follow him were the ones that showed it after all was said and done…. taking exception to Judas Iscariot of course. Even further following this example, perhaps the only thing man does have full capacity to do under his own strength is to die.
But in death, the stories of our lives are told by those who survive us. The good, the bad, the truth of us is told by our friends and loved ones who saw us in our times of great power. Who knew us in our times of great pain. Who carried us in our times of struggle and were carried by us in theirs. This passing on of our life stories and the continuation of our memories is part of our legacy. But he who truly makes himself an island can have no legacy, for there is no one to remember him.
You will hardly ever hear the legacy of a hermit. What could be said of one who makes himself a vagabond and tries to totally separate himself from mankind? Who was he? What was his name? Why did he drift away to the abyss of the ocean’s center far away from the warmth of human comfort? Who does he have to remember who and what and how he was in life? How can we remember a man who made it his mission in life to separate himself from the rest of the world?
Is this an extreme example? Perhaps. But is it really all that extreme?
There are so many of us who live our lives in the middle of a crowd but never do anything to affect a change within it. What is the point of you being in that crowd if no one but you ever knows it? What’s the point of having name if no one ever mentions it? What’s the point of existing in this world if you don’t use the tools, time and talents that God gave you to make this world a better place?
And it doesn’t take for you to have the entire planet stand up and shout your name.
It doesn’t take for your entire city to declare a day in your honor.
It doesn’t take for everyone you ever met to sing songs of your greatness…….
But is there someone that you see everyday that you’ve never said hello to? How about when you’re at home with your family? Is there anything that you do that makes them say, “This person has something to give to the world.”
And it may not even be the world, but at least your world.
Make the day brighter for the ones around you. Show them that you do have a positive influence in the world and if your name never shows up in neon lights, then at least you won’t be forgotten by those you were with from the start of it.
No, they will not forget your name if you give it to them and make it mean something. And then your legacy becomes a part of theirs, and theirs to someone else’s and so on and on until your life has affected people who you never even met.
This creates a network of people. An endless chain of a billion plus islands that stand as a continent made to remain in this vast ‘whole world ocean’ as opposed to a single person laying as an island against the ruthless squall and maelstrom to be beaten, battered, buffeted and swallowed by life’s unforgiving sea…..
Never to be remembered because he was close to no one.
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