I have had the idea to write about impressions for the past
several days, so the Spirit must be moving me to try and impress upon me to
share something with you. The thought of impressions came to me early one
morning as I lie awake in bed, the side effect of a small steroid dose. I wake
up, wide awake almost immediately, then have a hard time drifting back to sleep
– so I lie there and dwell on things.
Last spring when I first got out of the hospital from the
surgery, a good friend of ours stopped over to visit. She brought me a small
Papal type crucifix that she had in her possession from when she had some
serious illnesses earlier in her life. She told me it was special to her and
she kept it under her pillow every night as she went through her medical
ordeal. She is doing fine today, and was “paying it forward” when she gave me
the crucifix. I have the crucifix next to my bed, and put it under my pillow as
well, especially when I am having some headaches or trouble getting to sleep.
You know how when you sleep hard on your pillow or sheets, your face has small
red wrinkles impressed upon it when you first get up? I thought of that the
other night. Perhaps the impression of Christ on that small crucifix is
becoming impressed on my soul. I know I usually sleep better with the crucifix
under my pillow.
That thought led to other thoughts about impressions. There
are many sayings about impressions: You never get a second chance to make a
good first impression - I was impressed - That was very impressive – etc…..
We spend a lot
of our lives trying to impress others with ourselves, our looks, or our ideas.
Some of us go to great measures to impress certain people because that seems
important to us at the time. Some people don’t impress me, and others do. Why
is that? What kind of impression do each of us leave with other people? Do we
act out of our normal self to try to impress something different than who, or
what we really are just to make a good impression on someone? Is it worth not
being true to yourself just to impress someone who must not be able to accept
you for who you really are? We should ask ourselves these questions at times
before we choose to do some of the things we do to make different impressions
on others.
Who should we really try to impress, and what is impressed
upon us and our souls? Do we put things into our hearts and minds that will
leave good and lasting impressions?
Or do we take in bad shows, internet garbage, reality shows, clothing
styles, life styles, relationships, etc. to make us look like someone who we
are really not? Why do we try to impress certain people whom we think we can
gain something from? Perhaps that is our human nature.
Do you give the impression to others that you are a child
of God and living in His love? Do you smile at a stranger, say a kind word to
someone, hold a door for someone, hold off on a hurtful thought about another,
perhaps stop a gossip item from spreading, maybe do not forward a nasty text or
e-mail, etc? These are all small opportunities for us to make a good Christian
impression on others. Can someone tell by first meeting you that you are full
of God’s love and abundance? We should think about that, and try to start to
impress people with that. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it?
In this New Year, we should make it a resolution to be a
more impressive Christian person. We each need to spend time working on being
the best version of ourselves we can be. We should be all that God wants us to
be, living in His abundant Joy! Seeking spiritual guidance will help us to make
a good impression first on ourselves, and then on those we meet on a daily
basis.
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