Tidbits for Thought

INVISIBLE POWER

1 John 4:15-16 “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

God lives in him and he in God. And so, we know and rely on the love

God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and

God in him.”

In God’s natural world there are several very powerful but unseen

forces that affect us in some way every day of our lives; the wind, the

tides, and gravity. There is not one of us who have seen the wind, we

just observe the effects of it……rustling leaves, rain swirling in the

air, or a breeze on our face. We watch the waves move endlessly

against the shore and the tide moves in and out on schedule every day,

yet the power behind that incredible force is invisible. We watch

leaves fall gently from the trees yet the energy that propels them

downward is unseen and immeasurable. We also see the dark side of these

unseen energies in the incredible destructive power of the wind in hurricanes,

cyclones, and tornados and in the loss of life and property that huge waves

and tides produce.

The same gravitational force that gently propels a snowflake or a leaf

downward can turn a falling human body to a pile of crushed flesh,

bones, and blood.

There is another unseen power that does not have a destructive

downside and that is the invisible and infinite force of love……the

very essence of an unseen God. It is not often that we think of love or

compassion or grace as power, yet there is a latent power within those

words and feelings that, if unleashed, could change the world forever

and ever. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, physicist, theologian and author,

noted this latent power when he wrote, “Someday, after mastering the

winds., the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness, for God, the

energies of love, and then, for the second time, man will have

discovered fire.”

While we can’t see love, we can’t touch love, we can’t smell love, or

hear love, we all know and feel it when our lives are filled with

compassion, forgiveness and grace. the by-products of love. By the

same token we know instantly when love is not present in our lives or

our surroundings. Without love, the world is a darker and more hateful

place in which to exist.

We are all but individual cells in this great body we call humanity, yet

every thought that flows from us, either individually or collectively,

impacts someone, somewhere, or somehow. Each has the capability of

impacting the world we live in negatively by indulging in hate,

bigotry, indifference, hatefulness, and separation. Or we can help bring

about a world where compassion is not just a word, where caring is not

a spectator sport, where diversity is celebrated and where mercy,

forgiving, understanding and grace all contribute to a life filled with

Jesus and His love.

When we choose love, ABOVE ALL THINGS, we are choosing the

way of Jesus and honoring His name, His life and His

sacrifice……and we make the world a better and softer place to live.

Think about it!                                                         ~ Aron Smith