I want to borrow the title to this blog
from Denzel Washington’s book published in 2006.
The power of influence is sometimes a
misunderstood power. We all influence
and we have influences.
Denzel refers to the Boys & Girls
Club in his New York home town, and how they had a guiding and stabilizing
influence on his life.
And the story continues.
Who is on our path that is in need of a
hand to guide them? Sometimes those who
serve in the social services industry see nothing but an endless stream of
individuals who soon become just one more helpless person who has lost their
way. Yet they still have the power to be
a hand that guides.
I’ve served in ministry for a good part
of my life. Was I a guiding hand for
someone along the trail?
Teachers see masses of students over the
course of their teaching career. Do they
still try to be the hand that guides, or have they given up hope of ever making
a difference in a student’s life? Just
this week I watched the movie Freedom
Writers, the story of Erin Gruwell, a teacher who became a hand to guide
her students in a large inner-city school in Long Beach, CA.
I could name you a few select individuals
who have been instrumental for me. They
came along at a time when I needed them the most and their influence has made a
lasting difference.
Let me encourage you to commit your life
to becoming a hand that guides. Often,
we don’t get to choose where we have our most impactful influence. It happens when we least expect it, and the
one we might think is listening the least is the one we help the most.
We have an influence on those around
us. What kind of an influence are we
leaving behind?
Ears are listening.
Eyes are watching.
Hope is waiting.
They just want to know you care. And your hands could become the hands to
guide some unknown spark of humanity from despair to living a distinguished
life.
P Michael
Biggs
Offering Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time
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