October 3, Of Humble Origins

My men's group is starting a study of the Apostles this week. It's a 13-week program, I believe, but we will probably be able to cover it in six months. We tend to really dig deep on things sometimes.

The major point of the study is that the Apostles were twelve ordinary people. None of them were scholars or visionaries or rich men or leaders of important movements. They were fishermen, a tax collector, various others whose life consisted of working hard and trying, for the most part, to do the right thing and obtain economic security to some degree.

And yet, nearly 2000 years after their deaths, we know their names. Most of us don't know the names of the people who were important in roles around them. The head of the local temple, the merchants who bought their fish, the people they had to tread lightly around or life would be difficult.

Yet, we know about these twelve. In worldly terms, they were nothing special. They were more or less like the people around them. Yet they were called and answered the call.

In a similar way, we have the ability to answer the call and be something special, too. It's just a matter of understanding who you are and, if you are inclined to think this way, whose you are. These guys weren't super heroes. And they weren't Godly and perfect, either. They screwed it up as often as not. And yet they made a difference.

Their humble origins, the fact that they often failed, and the fact that in the end, they made a difference anyway is significant. It means that for all our faults, for all the things that we believe make us unable to make a significant difference, we can. We just have to have the faith in our actions and the courage to take a chance. And if we do that, maybe it will make a difference.