Follow the great part

This is an excerpt from Landon Saunders' ABC's of Being Human

Here are three questions to get you started with what you believe:


1. What do you believe about the world?



Is it good, or is it basically bad? Is it a place where human beings were meant to live and do well, or is it a place that is somehow hostile to human life? Do you expect things to work out well in the end, or do you suspect that everything is futile? It makes a great difference how you view the world. Why? Because the world you believe in is the world you will create for yourself. If you believe the world is hostile you will live with intimidation. If you believe there is love in the world you will find it.


2. What do you believe about God?



Not what do you believe about religion. Religious organizations come and go. They are divided among themselves. They represent all the strengths and weaknesses of human society. They are not God. I raise this question because it is there. It’s inevitable. It’s part of the whole question of being human. Do you believe God however perceived exists? And more importantly – what is the character of your God? Is God loving or does God despise human beings? It is so vital a question that you should not let others decide for you. In moments of crisis or when honestly seeking larger answers about this world, your view of God will make a big difference in the way you respond.


3. What do you believe about yourself?



If others don’t believe in you, it can be tough, but it can’t keep you from going forward. But unless you believe in yourself, nothing can help you. As a little boy, I can remember my father sometimes looking at me and asking, "Do you think you’ll ever amount to anything?" I can remember being a little puzzled by the question, but I would always answer, "Yes." I figured any other answer had to be wrong. As the years passed, that simple question has come to have great significance. It isn’t easy to feel you "amount" to something through your teens, into the twenties, past the thirties, forties, fifties, and now into the late sixties.


I’ve discovered a simple rule, however, that keeps me on track toward personal worth. The rule is this: To be great you must follow the great part that is you, not the small part; and you must follow the great part in others, not the small.