because we are asked to leave it better than we found it
We are not Scouts. My husband's was not a Scout, my boys are not Scouts. They each have many friends who are and there is a brother in law in the family who is, but he's not blood related, so we can't even claim some of the Scout DNA. The only reason I say this is to make sure it is known that I don't know the rules and regulations, I have no idea of the requirements that have to be met to move up the ladder, and I am sure I only understand just a smidge of the hard work it all entails. However, as lovers of the outdoors and all the beauty it can hold, there are two sayings the Scouts are known for that I, that we, can relate to and apply to much more of life than the act of communing with nature.
The first is to leave no trace. The second is to leave the world better than when you found it.
The first, I understand, especially in regards to its original application. No, when camping in the woods or wherever, you want to leave nothing behind that can negatively effect the area. Nothing left that will compromise the natural environment. There are other areas that this is not a bad rule to follow as well. Just in housekeeping alone, the leave no trace motto could save this mama HOURS of either straightening and cleaning or reminding and fussing as my children have not quite grasped the concept of leaving no trace of where they have been and what they have done. Without trying very hard I could come home at the end of a day gone and probably tell you exactly what they ate for each meal, what clothes they wore, and what activities they participated in because I guarantee traces would be left. But, as frustrating as that can be, I still think applying this motto to our whole life isn't quite what we are meant to do. I think a trace, in certain forms, is exactly what we need to leave, exactly what we are meant to leave. Which is why the second statement rings a little more true to me, carries a little more Truth.
Leave this world better than when you found it. Take what was there already and move it forward, improve it; leave a trace.
There are countless ways in life we can leave our world better than when we found it. When visiting a friend you can leave them with a clean guestroom and a heart full of encouragement and love from conversation and fellowship. When tending a garden you can leave it with more space to breathe and more nutrients to soak up by just removing the weeds. When running to the store you can leave the cashier with a smile and lightened heart by truly caring what they say when you ask them how they are. If you don't remember that conversation we had a few months ago, check it out here.
But no trace is more important than the one we are called to leave in the Kingdom of God. Through a series on Parables at our church we heard the story of the talents, but not the one I was familiar with, this one in Luke 19 has a similar theme and lesson with a few different details most notably being that the amount of money each servant received was the same. The story goes that when the wealthy man gave out the money and left, the task was given to each servant to put that money to work. Make something of it. When he returned he praised the ones who had more than when they started, and severely punished the one who did nothing with what he had been given.
While the end of the lesson, to some,--I'll admit to a bit of wincing-- may seem harsh, it is very clear. We have been given something, something of great value, and we are asked to put it to work so that it can grow.
This story and my new knowledge of its presence inspired me to reread the parable I already knew so well. Upon the reading of this similar tale in Matthew 25, specific details popped out to me that cemented even more this idea of significance and gifting that has made it's way through many of these Happy Wednesdays in the last year or so. In this story the master did not give every servant an equal amount. In this story, one received 5, one received 2, and one received 1 and not once did any of the servants look at each other in anger or jealousy and not once did any of the servants question the master and what he was doing or let him know how unfair it was that they didn't get the same amount as so and so next to them did. As a mother of three, this hit me hard as being a remarkable situation. I mean have you ever attempted to give one of your children something that wasn't on their specific birthday and get not a glimpse of backlash from it? Try going to the ball field and letting one child go to the concession stand. The minute that other brother gets a glimpse of those cheese fries, they are going to come a begging!
The Truth of that one sentence just sets up the depth of the lessons that continue to come, the same lesson that came in the story from Luke. We are each given something. Yes, if we are His child, we are all given equal parts of Him and equal parts of His Kingdom, in truth we are each given all of Him and all of it! But, on this earth, in this call to take what we are given and put it to work, it's not all equal, but it is still anything but insignificant. We each in our specifically significant ways are purposely given gifts, talents, situations, time, and experiences at different levels, in different amounts and with those we do not get to look at the person next to us and worry about what they were given and we are not to look at our Master and tell him how unfair it is that we did not get the same amount as so and so next to us. I mean, He loves us enough to listen if we do it (which, lets face it, we will at times), but it's still not what is asked of us. What is simply asked of us is to reach out our hands, take what is given to us, and put it to work for Him and with Him, that's an important part.
Isaiah 64:6 tells us that all of our deeds are filthy rags, but when we take what we have been given, when we put to work what the Master has given us, it's not our own creation we are putting forth, it is His, and what we do with Him for His glory will never be wasted, it will always produce. The amount it produces isn't even the most important part. It's the show of faith, the act of obedience, the act of doing something instead of just nothing, that brings a smile to His face as He says well done good and faithful servant.
I want you to know friends, that you were meant to leave a trace. You were meant to live and produce and make known the Kingdom of God in beautifully unique and significant ways so that others may see, so that others may know, and so that others will begin to do the same. He calls us, He equips us, and He helps us carry it out. You won't be alone in your something, but remember something is what we are called to do. Praying for you, pray for me.