Focusing on the One
One of the things that I really love about my church is the Christ centered media campaign that they initiate every Christmas and Easter. I first became aware of this bi-annual media surge by watching the "Because of Him" video that you may have seen being shared around social media a few years ago. It was powerful. It was peaceful. It gave me hope and it helped me know that I can start over again everyday... that I can be better, everyday. I admit that I still watch this video every now and then when I need a spiritual lift in my life. The feeling I get while watching it is the Holy Ghost testifying of the truth contained in the video. I absolutely love the fact that so much effort is put forth to introduce people to Jesus Christ, and the difference He can make in your life.
Last November I met with a group of people that were learning about the then upcoming #lighttheworld Christmas campaign. The idea behind this campaign was to spread the word that we can make the world a better place by following the example of Christ. A calendar was released with different ideas that people could do each day to emulate Jesus Christ. For example: December 9th - "Jesus visited the lonely, and so can you". Each day a short video was released for inspiration, and then a list of ideas of things we could do ourselves, like invite a widow or widower over for dinner, or visit people in a nursing home. These simple acts of service could make a big difference in somebody's life, and collectively, could make a big difference in the world... if we could get the word out. I left the meeting inspired. I was going to post everyday about what my family was doing to "Light the World" that Chistmas season. Then something happened... Life.
As an artist, my very busiest month is just before Christmas. The income that I earn 4th quarter makes up for the lack of income in the 1st. I was working very hard everyday to provide for my family, and the whole time the idea of "Lighting the World" was on my mind, but it had to take a backseat. Before I knew it, the Christmas season was almost over and I had yet to share any posts about this important effort to make the world a better place. I was feeling a bit guilty.
One day, a friend Janiece Seegmiller came by my house to purchase some artwork from me. I first met Janice at a LDS Social media conference where her son, YouTube star Stuart Edge was speaking. (I already blogged about this meeting previously HERE) Stuart spoke about the responsibility of having a social media following, having social media "influence". How sometimes he felt a responsibility to be a representative of Christ on a grand, in-your-face scale, but then... that may not necessarily be the thing that Heavenly Father wants you to do. He shared with us that while pondering and praying about what good he needed to do with his YouTube channel, the inspiration came to him... "Do your home teaching". For those who may be unaware, Home teaching is a program within my church that encourages us to go out visit and share an uplifting message each month to an assigned family or individual. Sometimes God isn't asking us to affect change on a global scale, but God is always concerned with the One. The one person who may need help, the one person who may be lonely, the one person that may need to feel God's love. And we can be God's messenger. His tool.
Janiece ask me if I had been able to blog or post anything about this years Christmas campaign. I was already feeling like a failure but now I was being asked about it. I made a few excuses, and she laughed. "Remember what my son spoke about." she told me. "Focus on the One"
Focus on the One. Isn't that what this whole Christmas campaign was about? I didn't follow the calendar suggestions that year. I have not given up, I plan on doing what I can in the future to promote the holiday campaigns that my church initiates, but at that point, I tried to focus on the One.
This Easter season, the Church will begin a new Christ centered media campaign. This year the hashtag will be #PrinceofPeace. There will be many resources made available to help you share uplifting posts online. Sharing our faith online is a very worthy endeavor. I will continue to try. Not only that, but I will continue to create uplifting posts that are easily shareable. Please use them to #sharegoodness with your own friends and family. I need to remember though that I can do so much more than just sharing online, I need to remember the importance of my close, personal influence for good that I may have with those around me. I encourage you to share your faith in Jesus Christ this year, not only online, but with those close to you. Sharing your faith in Jesus is easy, usually you can do this by simply trying to act like him. You can try to have a little more compassion, you can be a better listener, you can let the little unimportant things slide, you can do what you can to make someone's bad day better. Please, remember about the One.
As an artist, my very busiest month is just before Christmas. The income that I earn 4th quarter makes up for the lack of income in the 1st. I was working very hard everyday to provide for my family, and the whole time the idea of "Lighting the World" was on my mind, but it had to take a backseat. Before I knew it, the Christmas season was almost over and I had yet to share any posts about this important effort to make the world a better place. I was feeling a bit guilty.
One day, a friend Janiece Seegmiller came by my house to purchase some artwork from me. I first met Janice at a LDS Social media conference where her son, YouTube star Stuart Edge was speaking. (I already blogged about this meeting previously HERE) Stuart spoke about the responsibility of having a social media following, having social media "influence". How sometimes he felt a responsibility to be a representative of Christ on a grand, in-your-face scale, but then... that may not necessarily be the thing that Heavenly Father wants you to do. He shared with us that while pondering and praying about what good he needed to do with his YouTube channel, the inspiration came to him... "Do your home teaching". For those who may be unaware, Home teaching is a program within my church that encourages us to go out visit and share an uplifting message each month to an assigned family or individual. Sometimes God isn't asking us to affect change on a global scale, but God is always concerned with the One. The one person who may need help, the one person who may be lonely, the one person that may need to feel God's love. And we can be God's messenger. His tool.
Janiece ask me if I had been able to blog or post anything about this years Christmas campaign. I was already feeling like a failure but now I was being asked about it. I made a few excuses, and she laughed. "Remember what my son spoke about." she told me. "Focus on the One"
Focus on the One. Isn't that what this whole Christmas campaign was about? I didn't follow the calendar suggestions that year. I have not given up, I plan on doing what I can in the future to promote the holiday campaigns that my church initiates, but at that point, I tried to focus on the One.
This Easter season, the Church will begin a new Christ centered media campaign. This year the hashtag will be #PrinceofPeace. There will be many resources made available to help you share uplifting posts online. Sharing our faith online is a very worthy endeavor. I will continue to try. Not only that, but I will continue to create uplifting posts that are easily shareable. Please use them to #sharegoodness with your own friends and family. I need to remember though that I can do so much more than just sharing online, I need to remember the importance of my close, personal influence for good that I may have with those around me. I encourage you to share your faith in Jesus Christ this year, not only online, but with those close to you. Sharing your faith in Jesus is easy, usually you can do this by simply trying to act like him. You can try to have a little more compassion, you can be a better listener, you can let the little unimportant things slide, you can do what you can to make someone's bad day better. Please, remember about the One.
Comments
Post a Comment