The Power of One

"He'll rule a nation one day- we just don't know if it will be for good or for evil!" we say in jest of my 3 year old nephew, Malachi- who is a delightful mix of sugar and spice all rolled up into one. He's the cute one in the photos to your left. I guess I'm taking for granted that you don't find Jesus, Hitler, or MLK Jr. cute though.

  I watched, "The Woman in Gold," last night, it wouldn't have been my movie of choice as I still haven't gotten over, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," but when my friend text me about it I figured it was about fashion.

   This one image, shown for a split second, stung me.
It's terrifying, awe striking, and unbelievable the influence and power that one man had. I had to shift my thinking to other ones so as not to become overwhelmed. I told myself just this past Monday we celebrated MLK Jr. another historical picture of the power of one, but then again, they killed him. I finally found some solace when the thought, "Before you know it all this snow will melt and we'll be hiding Easter eggs and celebrating the power of The One, they killed him too, but He got up, so enjoy the movie." Now you know my self soothing secrets.  But this post isn't about Malachi, Hitler, MLK, or even Jesus. In a way, it's about a man by the name of Abu al Barakat and in another way it's not about him either; it's about you or me, us.

   While I worked on Eurasia Experience and summer in southern Asia plans today, I listened to a message by Pastor Curt Harlow, it was about us too. It was called The Lost Sheep. He was preaching from the parable of the lost sheep so the title was appropriate yet lacking in creativity. I've both heard and preached this passage many times, but he brought to light something I hadn't known before.  In this time, if someone killed another man's sheep and was taken to court, he had to pay both for that sheep and all the sheep that sheep would've produced- they had to pay for the potential of the sheep. Sheep may be dumb, but they sure were (are) valuable to the shepherd. Which takes the sting off the Biblical comparison to us a bit.

  The fact that the shepherd would leave the 99 for 1 makes more sense if you understand the power of the 1. The shepherd did and does. I forget sometimes though.

  I don't much like crowds, they overwhelm me, plus I'm 5'2", the view isn't always pleasant for me. There were many times in Thailand where I was overwhelmed. Discouraged and disheartened as I looked in the mirror I would think, "Who do you think you are? This country is less than 1% Christian, what could you possibly do?" I didn't have a lot of faith in the power of that 1% or that 1 sheep staring back at me in the mirror. Surrounded by idols and Buddhist temples that 1 sheep in the mirror looked pretty dumb and insignificant.

  Here's a freebie, in case you didn't know this, the Bible says the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but he rarely has to go to those lengths when he can just discourage, dishearten, disappoint, distract, or frighten us. Turns out this sheep really is a little dumb, forgetting the power of One.

  My new assignment recently took me to a few places that are not 1% Christian, but 0% Christian and 100% Muslim. Actually, it's against the law NOT to be Muslim and that's not an old law; it's a 2008 law.

  Two things strike you immediately when you land on these islands- they're beautiful and they're serious about Islam.
                                           

I was familiar with a culture deeply rooted in its religion I mean, they say, "To be Thai is to be Buddhist," but there's no law mandating it so this must go deeper I thought, but I thought wrong. It's so rare that I'm wrong I was pretty surprised, but the truth is, up until the 12th century these islands were entirely Buddhist, which is quite a bit different from Muslim, in case you were wondering. But now they are 100% Muslim. I even saw the ruins of one of the first Buddhist temples here, it sits in this old grave yard.











This is where Abu comes in and my faith in the power of 1 and the power of The One grew three sizes that day outside this gated tomb.



   They tell me Abu is buried here, but they also tell me Elvis is buried at Graceland so who really knows?  Abu was a devout Muslim who visited these Buddhist islands from Morocco. A stranger visiting a foreign land is said to be responsible for the conversion of these islands to Islam and is greatly memorialized and honored here today.

  This is why my faith grew three sizes, this is what excited me! No! Not because the islands converted from Buddhism to Islam, but because of the power of one!  I want to be like Abu! You and I may only be one, well, technically we are 2, but you know what I mean. What can I, one, do in this overwhelming crowd?  I can remember Abu and the power of One. Here's to fulfilling our potential that the Shepherd sees. Embrace your power of one today, after all it's The One who supplies it anyway. Why yes, 1 person can make a difference, I sure know One who did for me.