Walking along the dried Mississippi River bed, I came across the deer tracks pictured to the right. Looking behind me, I saw that I was leaving some tracks of my own in the wet mud. And in a moment of insight, I realized that we all leave a mark wherever we go, some sign that we are here, good or bad, if even for a brief moment. The question is: what kind of trace do we leave behind?
We all leave lots of surface impressions on the world. Often, as the saying goes, we only get one chance to make a best first impression. In spiritual terms, someone once said that we may be the only Christ the people around us meet on any given day, so we need to be constantly aware that we have that power and responsibility. We most effectively model Christ and divine love to the world not with Christian t-shirts and noisy preaching but rather by making a quiet impression of love on those around us. For it’s most often the gentle touch and the caring word that leaves the deepest mark.
Ask yourself in silence: What do I leave behind? Can the people around me tell that God dwells in me?
Yes.
“Footprints that perhaps another
Sailing o’er Life’s solemn main
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother
Seeing shall take heart again”
The above, an excerpt from Psalm of Life – H.W.Longfellow.
Indeed in our human way, we leave ‘footprints’ or traces behind, some good, some not so good. And will what we leave behind be a good legacy?
But as a Christian, we hope that whatever little charitable acts we do will be translated by others as a reflection of our Christianity and so in this way put Christ in the forefront.
In recent times, I have been blessed to be acquainted with one such person who epitomises all that a good Christian should be. It isn’t an easy act to emulate but the ”footprints’ are deep and clear enough for me to step into. And I thank God for the ‘light’.
God Bless, Steve.
Lily
Beautiful, as always, Lily. And thanks for the Longfellow…
Hahaha, Steve -‘the Longfellow’ – your sense of humour is irrepressible. and then isn’t true that ‘laughter is the best medicine!’
Lily