A Single Grain Upon Which Every Other Life Somehow Depends

Christ impacted all people and life. In John 12 he compares himself to a single grain: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24)." Since Jesus will "draw all people to myself (12:32)" his life and death and life again, everyone and everything is transformed. Christ empowers us to become single grains of meaning as well through his acts and life. Individuals make a difference as they live in community and obey the commandment to "love one another." Your life is transformed by Christ; you can serve through the generous acts of service you have been equipped to perform. You are the fruit produced through the cross. 

Recently I encountered a poem by Leonard Nathan that speaks to the is huge impact you will have on others, on all people, as one abiding in Christ. It was shared by Parker Palmer on his Facebook page and it lifts up several ideas... many touching nerves within me. 

• How easy it is for us to think that what we contribute to life and others doesn't matter.
• How our lives not only matter, but impact everyone... I mean EVERYONE. 
• As with Christ, our experiences of suffering and compassion matter most.

The poem is called "So?" and I want to share it.

So?

So you aren't Tolstoy or St. Francis

or even a well-known singer

of popular songs and will never read Greek

or speak French fluently,

will never see something no one else

has seen before through a lens

or with the naked eye.

You've been given just the one life

in this world that matters

and upon which every other life 

somehow depends as long as you live,

and also given the costly gifts of hunger,

choice, and pain with which to raise

a modest shrine to meaning.

- Leonard Nathan