"Mister!" he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues...."
The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, had to be my absolute favorite Dr. Seuss book/movie ever...and still is actually. I'm not sure why, or what exactly it is about that story, but it spoke to me at a very young age, & gets me still today. March 2nd was celebrated as Dr. Seuss day in honor of Theodor Seuss Geisel, more popularly known as the beloved Dr. Seuss, who celebrated his 107th birthday. In honor of this, Life University had a reading day where we could volunteer to read to the BrightLife daycare children one of his books. They provided some but mine wasn't listed so I brought it and read it to the preschoolers. Reading the story to them really brought back memories, and made me realize that it was this very book, this very movie, that first sparked the inner tree-hugger. It is what made me an environmentalist and nature-lover. I remember every earth day I would get so excited because I knew they were going to play the movie!
It's funny how such little, insignificant things can speak such volumes into lives. Things you don't think twice on like a tired teacher popping in The Lorax movie for earth day so she can take a break and get some things done. Never realizing the life she just changed by that one movie.
I was reminded of this again today when at work I was emotionally about to just crack, all I could do at that second to keep my sanity and try to hide from my coworkers that I was about to cry was just think on how I really wanted a hug (...maybe I'd facebook that, or facebooka particular friend who I knew gave awesome hugs...) and justas I was thinking that as I stared at my computer screen trying not to cry, guess who surprised me with a hello? It would be the one friend I wanted a hug from, I needed a hug from! I'm sure when he came into the library that morning he didn't know that his normal stopping by the reference desk to greet me would end up answering my silent prayer. But it did, it kept me together the rest of the day...and all it was, was a really good true hug.
How we live our lives, even in the small steps of our days, impact so many others it gets me thinking, how do I live my life? How do I live the aspects of my life that I don't think about? How do I live out the details?
As the Switchfoot song, This is Your Life song goes:
"Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken
Don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you’ve got now
Yeah, and today is all you’ll ever have
Don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose
Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose..."
When running today, I kept trying so hard to not think on all the emotional things going on in my head, & focus on God and what's funny is first God had my ipod play a song that was about trying to escape from your own thoughts and fears, and then He played
Harry Belafonte (Herold George Belafonte)'s Jump in the Line (Shake., Senora)
I couldn't help but think back on the movie Bettlejuice where Winona Ryder floats & dances to this song & couldn't help but being amused. I looked at the sun that was softly shining upon me through a light, perfect cloud covering, I could just see God smiling at me I telling me plainly to lighten up, not to take life so seriously.
Then of course I spent the next few seconds 'dancing' while running to this song, & it had to be the highlight of my run! But it also revealed to me that I'm not truly who God intended me to me unless I am relaxed in Him. When we are stressed, worried, fearful, angry, etc. we lose a part of ourselves.
When we are experiencing these emotions, what kind of impact are we going to leave? Small or large, just the lack of a smile on your face can make or break someones day (which I have honestly experienced at work multiple times with stressed students).
How to fix this? I don't know honestly, but I know this, by keeping my eyes on Christ, through His death on the cross and by God's unmerited, unearned favor (grace), I come closer to the answer. I learn to love as Christ loved, to live a life just a bit more like He lived, to walk in such a way and shine my light in such a way as to bring glory and honor to His name and use the best of myself to impact others-to impact the world, one small touch at a time.
I just finished reading Unmerited Favor by Joseph Prince which I highlyrecommend by-the-way, and in the last chapter he talks about Jesus with the leper-where the leper, while believing that God could heal & had the ability to heal him, wondered if God was willing to heal him. And how did Jesus heal him? "Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed'" Matthew 8:3...that one small thing, a single touch meant more to this leper than anything else. Someone who NEVER gets touched. Here is Joseph Prince's writings on this:
He did not touch every person that He healed. At times, He simply spoke and the sick were healed. But in this case, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched the leper tenderly. I believe that Jesus did this to heal him not just of his leprosy, but also of the emotional scars that he had received from years of rejection.
You never know what a mere touch can do for someone...that's what I experienced this morning. You never know what a silly time-wasting cartoon movie can do for a child, but I learned it can shape that child into who they grow up to become...I bet Dr. Seuss never knew that just by writing his silly thoughts & ides down, his silly stories and make believe world, he would havesuch an impact on children around the world to this day and will continue. As little read as this blog is, who knows what random person I may reach out there who I'll never meet or even know exists...
"And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
was a small pile of rocks, with one word...
"UNLESS."
Whatever that meant, well, I just couldn't guess...
"But now," says the Once-ler,
"Now that you're here,
the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear...
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