“And I hope that where I travel, they will say of me one day

that it somehow made a difference that I passed this way”

The above is a snippet from a song I learned in high school choir, called “Down the Road”. It was a religious song <gasp!> that was one of many we learned as freshmen and doggedly kept asking our teacher to bring out year after year because we liked it so much. I suppose because it was fun to sing, with moving parts that crossed, amplified, and faded in dramatic ways. I liked it because the message was simple, that we were looking ahead to the promise of life and its many experiences. The song ends when the traveler is looking back along the road they’ve traveled and wistfully hopes it wasn’t just walking along passing the time but that it truly touched other lives, that it crossed paths with people in ways that encouraged, helped, and made a difference.

It’s not often that we plan ahead our lives in as much detail as we should. Oh we might decide on a career and go to a chosen college. But then what? We “fall” in love, perhaps, and life opens and closes doors to us. For many the lives they live are those of opportunity and outside influence, lived according to events beyond their control. It’s no surprise then when we look back at the twisting and winding path we’ve taken and are a bit surprised at all the places we’ve been.

Still we do the best we can, and our lives need not be so chaotic. Oh, I can hardly stand the thought of that obnoxious novice Christian who went out and tried to convert all his friends when he finally “got it” himself. Yet there seems to be a pretty straight line of growth and maturity in spite of where he/she ended up living or doing for work. So many of us have grown in faith, not by chance or by fate but by steady, planned study of scriptures. I have seen it and enjoyed it and even helped it along myself, the determination of those who might feel they don’t know hardly anything stepping up to a more solid understanding and then further on to a confident ability to teach others!

I likely mentioned this before, but Ricardo Montalban tells a story of his first experience in making a movie. He got the part of – a butler. Hoping to make the most of this exposure, he did his best but overacted a bit. The director took him aside and said “Ricardo, the perfect butler is not seen and not heard.” I thought about this because it’s the natural progression of us as servants. So many things are done by these wonderful elders and deacons we have (except for that burly guy – keep a close eye on that one!) Despite raising children, changing jobs, and the trials of life they have remained very steady in the faith. It certainly did make a difference that they passed our way, we often just never notice the progression of their faithful works and service towards us.

Last month, wondering if I myself had made any real difference as I reflected on ten years worth of bulletins, my wife pointed out that just about everyone has a handful of the things sticking out of the bibles they carry to services. It might be they are saved because of the sermon notes jotted down, or maybe a grocery list, but I’d like to think that perhaps at least one of my thoughts did indeed make a difference to someone.

Randy