A few days ago while sitting paitently at a red light at a very busy highway intersection my fuel pump decided to give up the ghost. It was 5:00 pm and rush hour traffic was in full swing. I wasn’t sure what had happened except the whole vehicle shuddered and then became silent. After making a few phone calls there was a tow truck on its way but meanwhile I was clogging up traffic in a busy section of the city. Cars were zipping around me and a few honked in annoyance. I just sat there with three or four lanes of traffic on both sides of me and there was not much I could do. Suddenly I saw a man approaching my vehicle in my rearview mirror, about ten cars behind me. He asked me if he could push me across the intersection and over to the curb. I was stunned at this man’s kindness. Of course I said yes, thank you. I drive a full size SUV and when the light turned green he started pushing my vehicle. Cars were zooming by and we were moving at a snail’s pace. We didn’t make it very far before the light turned red and the kind man stood panting at the back of my vehicle. To my right I noticed two more cars at the curb with their flashers on. Two businessmen, probably on their way home from work, crossed the busy intersection and over to my vehicle. The three of them coordinated to get my vehicle across three lanes of traffic and to the curb. I thanked them all and they went back about their business. I couldn’t help but wonder at the willingness of strangers to act on behalf of others. Others in this case being me. It inspired me, touched me and reminded me that we are all on this planet together and that kindness is one of the most powerful tools of transformation we can use to create change in ourselves, in others and in the world. My heartfelt thanks goes to the three strangers who took the time to help another person. I hope that I have the opportunity to pass that kindness forward, bettering myself, others and the world.

Contained within the atom is a power and force unknown to humankind until modern times. And yet atoms are the basic building blocks of matter. An individual atom is so small that it can only be seen through a special instrument. And yet, the power of an individual atom can destroy matter. That which we cannot see we often believe has little or no power. Hidden within the atom is an incredible power; power to create or destroy depending on how it is used. Hidden within each human being is a great power; a power to create or destroy depending on how it is used.

Two examples from history: Adolf Hitler was a small diminutive man, a failed artist and veteran from WWI. That single individual brought the German nation out of the oppression of the Treaty of Versailles and economic disaster, created a massive army, an impeccable air force and navy, created the Nazi Party and had ambitions to unify an Aryan race that he believed would carry humanity forward. He had designs for the extinction of Jews and carried out the murder of millions. He died at age 56. He built an empire of domination and fear. He left a legacy of pain and ruin. One man. One atom.

Mother Teresa was a small diminutive woman. She left her home in Albania at age 18 feeling the call of the religious life. She devoted herself to the poor, the crippled and the sick, opening hundreds of orphanages, hospices and sanctuaries for lepers and other diseased people. She started soup houses, family counseling programs and schools. She traveled the world, rescuing the dying, homeless and the forgotten from despair. She brought one of the poorest places in the world, Calcutta India, onto the international scene. She too built an empire, one of service and love. She left a legacy of hope and healing. One woman. One atom.

We are surrounded by billions of atoms and we are surrounded by billions of people. The powers within the individual lie dormant and many of us go through life without ever touching this wellspring within ourselves. We are shocked and awed when we witness someone who excercises this power, just as we were shocked and awed at the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I  believe that a single person can make a difference and does make a difference. I believe that a single individual can change the world. I can only imagine what many could do.

There are a few experiences in life that are so powerful and life altering that it becomes impossible to conceive of the path that might have been taken without them. I had one of those experiences when I was eight years old. The first one of a few direct experiences with God that have been purposefully placed throughout my life like road markers guiding me down the path. Jesus appeared to me in a dream. We were together on a high mountain peak looking down at the treacherous gorge below. He took both of my hands in his and held them tight and gazed into my eyes and said these two words-”trust me.” He did not say trust your parents, trust your religion or trust your leaders; he directed me to trust him. I felt his love for me, an incredible love and acceptance that poured into my being and filled every bone and penetrated every cell of my body. I understood that I didn’t have to be worthy of this love, deserving it by performing or behaving in a certain way but that this love was unconditional and absolute. I also recognized that it would have been impossible for him to be anything less than this all encompassing love. I awoke the next day transformed by my experience. I could no longer accept that God was a withholding or demanding being that rewarded the good and punished the bad. It was this experience that anchored me to a higher truth than anything I was taught by man. And above all of that was the knowledge of the existence of God, of life beyond the body, beyond the bounds of time and space. The most powerful and life affirming experiences I have had are intangible, often indescribable and impossible to prove. Thus is the paradox of life, that hidden in the simplest and most insignificant moments, is the transforming power of God.