Too old for Dr. Seuss?

"UNLESS, someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Dr Seuss, The Lorax

So last week, I got a chance to see Dr Seuss' The Lorax.  I am a sucker for these kinds of movies - and I'm not ashamed! Once on a plane ride, I was watching Dr Seuss' Horton hears a who - only to find a 10 year old girl next to me crawling up to tell me she didn't know 'old people' liked Dr Seuss. (I am NOT old!)

The quote that was the foundation of the movie should not be overlooked.  We've all heard a million times that one person can make a difference, and we even tell it to our young ones - but do we believe it? "I'm not gonna vote, one vote won't make a difference." "It won't matter if I attend this youth meeting, or go to this liturgy, or just stay home". Guess what? It matters.

In the course of history we've seen many people leave big impacts, yet we still find it hard to be one of those people, why? History doesn't remember groups of people, but rather the individuals behind certain movements or regimes.  We hear of both good and bad, Ghandi and Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr, Michael Jordan, the list goes on. Also in the Orthodox Church, we have great Saints like St Athanasius and St Cyril who helped shape Christianity for almost every Christian denomination today.  Billy Graham said it best, "Jesus Christ is the only person who walked across time and history." Can you believe that? We hear these great names, and sometimes may forget the ones from a few hundred years ago, but the only name that has resonated through history with such great effect, is that of Jesus.

Can we do the same? Of course we can! St Basil, in Gateway to Paradise, writes "He heals the sick and revives the dead.. if He finds a tax-collector He makes a disciple; if He meets a fisherman He produces a theologian; if He find a persecutor He makes an apostle who can spread the faith.  Through the working of the Spirit, the weak can escape the strong, the poor become rich and the ignorant surpass the wise."

That's what I love about God, He takes what we think can be worthless and non-contributing (like ourselves) and does crazy things and wonders with it. All He needs is a little sign of approval from our part to be willing to allow Him in. Do you ever feel a burden inside you towards a certain group that needs help, or a cause, or something? That's God hinting at you to tell you, "Hey, that's where you can make a difference!" All we have to do is recognize it, and allow God to turn us from water into wine... are you willing?