REFLECTIONS
July 9, 2006
 
 
I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
Acts 26:17b-18
 
 
The Chain Letter
 
“Pass it on,” the email concluded. It encouraged me to write my Congressman about a political matter. “Pass it on,” another one read as it presented a prayer for a person in need. Still another email enticed me to “Pass it on,” with the promise of a great prize if the chain went unbroken.
I have never been much of a fan of them but I suppose that chain letters are just a part of life these days. We all get them. At some time or other, we may have even sent them. Some of them are appeals for political reform. Some are stunning landscapes accompanied by beautiful music. Some are prayers for those in need, and others promise a prize if we don’t break the chain.
Chain letters are very effective. Think about it. With each one we receive, we must make a choice—pass it on or let it die. We really can’t ignore them even when we don’t read them. Chain letters force a choice.
Now it occurs to me that our lives are chain letters. Each of us sets an example that someone will choose to follow or avoid. We set examples for our children, for our friends, for our co-workers, and even for people we have never met. People see our lives as an example and they are presented a choice—pass it on or let it die.
Throughout our lives we chase after wealth, pleasure, power, and fame, but in the end it is not what we gain in life that matters. It’s what we pass on. Jesus set the standard. His life is The Chain Letter we call the Gospel, and our lives are about reflecting his. By the way we live our lives we touch other lives; and we present those lives with a choice—pass it on or let it die.
The Chain Letter is the greatest truth we can tell. We tell it with what we say, but mostly we tell it by the way we live. As we make our own choices for our lives we are also making choices that can turn others from the darkness to the light. And a great prize is promised if they choose to keep the chain unbroken.
Pass it on.
 
“You are the light of the world.”
Richard Ì

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