Pyromaniac on the Loose!

What an epic lesson week! We did so much, and talked about so much, that I hardly know where to begin! And since my blog entries tend to be...long...I've decided to focus on one principle I really liked and keep this one short(er) and sweet as can be!

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

~Matthew 5:16

This well-known scripture is talking about light. Specifically, the light and glory of Jesus Christ. The Topical Guide in the Bible says this about the light of Christ:

"The light of Christ is just what the words imply: enlightenment, knowledge, and an uplifting, ennobling, persevering influence that comes upon mankind because of Jesus Christ."

This light is in each of us, and as disciples and leaders it is our responsibility to distribute it to those around us whose inner flames are in need of being replenished. Our speaker this week spoke about teamwork, and the specific point of "Firelighters vs. Firefighters" was incredibly poignant for me, especially because I had just been exposed to a similar idea in one of my leadership positions. (This was also rather exciting...finally, a strong connection! It was cool.)

In a recent C2G meeting we were shown a short film about giving. It began with a young man, a student, coming from the Maeser building on BYU campus. He was holding a lit candle as he went down the steps.

Sitting at the bottom of the steps, head hanging low and shoulders hunched in a despairing posture was another student. As the first student approached, holding his burning candle, the miserable student raised his head and pulled an unlit candle from his coat.

The first student held his lit candle towards his fellow, whose once-desolate face became lit with hope. He held his candle to the lit wick of the other and received a flame of his own. Then, with a smile, he stood and began walking away. He met a girl whose candle had no flame, and invited her to light it on his.

The end result was a campus completely lit up by burning candles, brilliant flames shared.

Firelighters are those people who have lit candles already. They want to share the joy and light of this flame with everyone, so they uplift, inspire, and go out of their way to give the desolate hope, the miserable joy. They are those who connect the world.

President Uchtdorf is well known for his story of a group of men trying to move a piano. No matter how they lifted, they could not budge the enormous instrument. At one point the charge was given to "stand close together, and lift where you stand." As if by magic, they were able to lift the piano.

It takes good, solid, close relationships for anything worthwhile to be accomplished in this life. And for a leader to lead, it would be impossible without this closeness.

Every leader needs to be a firelighter, rather than a firefighter who extinguishes ideas, joy, and people.

Christ served with love; his light has spread throughout the world. As a leader, and disciple, I can do the same, starting with the individual and my own lit candle.