It was a dark and stormy night.
Well, actually it was a dark night but not so very stormy. At church camp it was late enough for the younger kids to be in bed dozing to the burr of a dozen fans, but early enough for the older campers and staff to be playing a game. Or perhaps having a learning experience.
They are playing a game called angels and demons. The campers are blindfolded, which considering the darkness of the night, is virtually redundant. The campers have an objective. They are supposed to move somehow, as individuals or groups, to a place called Heaven. They are to depend upon their ability to touch and to hear. They cautiously feel their way forward with feet carefully shuffling step-by-step, while listening to the voices of staff members, some of whom are “angels” and some of whom are “demons.” The angels can’t physically guide their humans to Heaven; they have to rely on persuasion. The demons are obviously not intent on getting the kids to heaven; they have a different Plan H. They seek to convince the kids that they are the true guides leading them to the place that they really want to be. Neither angel or demon can come straight out and give their true identity, but they do have to answer any question that the kids ask of them. Or appear to answer the question. Kids are spread out all over camp, as angels lead a group here, or persuade a girl or boy there; demons distract some of the members of a flock here or there, and one leads his group away at a speed close to a goosestep.
One of the demons is stressed. She is (in her true identity) one of those sweet young women who couldn’t put more than two mean words together in a sentence without feeling guilty for a week because she even thought the sentence. Because she thinks that it would be fun for people to not think of her so much a “Miss Goody Two-shoes,” she volunteers to be one of the demons. The problem is, she is spectacularly successful at it. The younger girls hear her voice and circle around her like so many June bugs around a porch light. Only this time she isn’t the light. In a metaphorical way, she is a temporary agent of the Pit of Darkness, the Hub of Hatred, the Lair of the Liar. She did not expect to experience the power that she wields. She is stunned; shaken, even. Eventually, her eyes fill with tears. In her frustration, she calls over an angel of some years and experience to use his considerable persuasive skills to convince her flock to leave the edge of this imaginary cliff. Even his calm and steady voice is not enough to distract, much less dissuade, her charges. Finally, in frustration, she breaks the rules (which causes her no end of cognitive dissonance and guilt) and tells her followers that she is a demon. They refuse to believe such an obvious piece of nonsense. They won’t leave her. The dear little “demon” is stunned and physically shaken by the whole experience.
The word for today is influence. We all have influence; the questions are: With whom? How much? What kind?
Our little demon knew that some of the younger girls were fond of her. What was so shocking to this young woman was the unexpected reality that so many young girls looked up to her, and that they would follow her unflinchingly. Apparently, they would follow her even through Hell, yet refuse to believe that Hell was where they were. Because it couldn’t be Hell if she were there, could it? “If I have this kind of influence over this many souls,” she thought, “how careful of a life am I going to have to live? What kind of life am I going to have to live?”
Very frequently, even the best of us can be oblivious to the power of our influence over others. We influence those that we know, especially those who care about us. Those who care about us take much more seriously the causes that we choose to be passionate about. Those who think that we are wise wonder if they shouldn’t use their time the way that we use our time. Even our demeanor when we enter a room can change the temperature of the place, because others wish to be in sync with how we are seeing the world today.
Paul was aware of the power of his influence:
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.
2 Thessalonians 3:7-10 – NRSV
Be alert today to the ways in which every smile or frown, every silence or every word, every commendation or correction, shapes the way those around you see their little universe. Be aware, be deliberate, and be wise, because you are making choices for more people than you may realize.
Grace, and peace,
Ron
