By Curtis Coleman for The News Courier
The power of influence and example in every human being cannot be overestimated. So many sayings of past and present noteworthy persons underscore this conclusion.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer said, “Example is not the main thing in life — it is the only thing.”
Example is more powerful than argument. Observing the power of influence, Pascal said, “The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”
Joseph Norris in his poem entitled, “Influence” captured this truth so well:
Drop a pebble in the water,
And its ripples reach out far;
And the sunbeams dancing on them
May reflect them to a star.
Give a smile to someone passing,
Thereby making his morning glad;
It may greet you in the evening
When your own heart may be sad.
Do a deed of simple kindness;
Though its end you may not see,
It may reach, like widening ripples,
Down a long eternity.
Too easily we can yield to the temptation to think that one’s personal influence and example count for little.
So much of our influence is unconscious in its effects for good or evil on others. A young woman set out a rare vine at the base of a stone wall.
It grew vigorously but did not blossom. Day after day she cultivated and watered it and tried in every way to coax it to bloom. One morning her neighbor called to her and said, “You cannot imagine how I have been enjoying the blooms on that vine you planted.” She thought that her plant was a failure when all the time it was proving to be a blessing to one who really needed it. The neighbor was enriched and blessed in every way because of the one who had planted the vine. How important it is that we seek to create the right kind of influence through the way we live, work, worship, and play.
Only by making our lives more Christlike can we be sure our influence and example will be a source of help and not hindrance to others who look to us. Remember the power of our influence and example can be devastating or transforming.
Dr. Curtis Coleman is emeritus dean and professor of religion and philosophy at Athens State University.
