A few weeks ago, I visited San Francisco and one thing that caught my attention were the many wires strung in all directions overhead. I wondered what the purpose was for all these configurations of wires. Later, I saw a bus drive past that was connected to the wires. Why would such a thing be wanted in a city? It probably took extra time, effort, and money to organize and install these wires so that the buses would move in the proper routes. It seemed more sensible to me just to operate buses fueled with gasoline than to go through all the trouble of installing an electric bus system.
At that point, I realized that using gasoline-fueled buses cause smog pollution and electric buses do not. I also noticed that the city’s atmosphere was not as polluted as other major cities that I have visited.
As I thought about these electric buses, I found a lesson in them. By my attitude and behavior towards those around me, I can be “polluting or not polluting the air.” If I do not take time to improve my attitude and behavior, I may ruin the atmosphere around me with gossip and unkind words. The electric buses took extra time and effort to install, but the positive outcome was a clean environment.
If I spent extra time with God and become connected to Him, I would be more Christlike and create a more enjoyable atmosphere for the people around me. “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me”(John 15: 3,4). “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”(Prov. 25:11). Being a positive influence would be well worth the extra effort.
Phuong Lan Dao
