I read a great quote today by Bernard Bailey off my iGoogle page. It said, "When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it." (Bernard Bailey was an American comic book artist best known as co-creator of the DC Comics characters the Spectre and Hourman, and a comics publisher, writer, and editor - but that's neither here nor there.)
It seems like I've been dealing a lot lately with people who truly think that they are the center of the universe. When did people stop caring about others? This is the thought process that is ruining our world! Just imagine what kind of a world we could create if people became others focused ... it would be the utopia that Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, Ghandi and a handful of others dreamed of and eventually died trying to achieve.
People need to stop thinking of themselves as the shiz-nit and start realizing that what will make us great is to take the focus off of ourselves and instead love and serve others. Matthew 20:26b-28 says, "... whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Further Luke 10:25-28 says, "And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' And He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? How does it read to you"' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.' And He said to him, 'You have answered correctly; Do this and you will live'."
My personal favorite is the way that Martin Luther King, Jr. said it ... "If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be a servant. That's a new definition of greatness. And this morning the thing that I like about it, by giving that definition of greatness, it means that EVERYBODY CAN BE GREAT BECAUSE EVERYBODY CAN SERVE. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, (and a) soul generated by love and you can be that servant."
We, as followers of Jesus, have been called to LOVE. Love is not selfish. It doesn't put itself first or view itself as better than others. Love is gentle and kind and accommodating and serving and unconditional.
I want to challenge myself to live a life immersed in LOVE. Let me speak it, read it, talk about it, seek it out, surround myself with it and most importantly live it. If I want to be great, if I want to change the world, if I want to make a lasting difference in the cosmos - there is only one thing I must do - LIVE LOVE.
It is what I put out into the world that defines who I am. So that begs the question, who am I and what do I want to be remembered for? When the history books are written, I want them to say "Alicia Benton loved."
