You can do anything

Do you know that you have unlimited power inside of you?

Do you know that it is there, bubbling beneath the surface?

Do you know that you - yes you! - have the ability to change the world?

There's a voice that quickly snaps, "No, that's not true."

But underneath the harshness of its tone, there is a hint of something hopeful, perhaps wistful. Something inside of you believes that I might really be talking to you.

Because I am.

And it's true.

I'm reminded of a time that I spoke to an elderly woman. She had grown up in a world of resentment. In a world without God.

When she was young, a close family member had taken ill, and she was told to pray, and that God would heal. She prayed for a week, and the person died. But no one told her, and she kept praying for another week.

When they finally did tell her, she learned that God does not answer prayers, if He's there at all.

And that little girl went through life without God.

And even as the elderly woman told her story, and explained why she could not pray to this very day, I watched a tear form in the edge of her eye.

That same voice that tells us not to pray, because He's not listening, that same part of us that is cold and hardened, also wishes that we would somehow figure out how to break its macho facade.
That part of us that has us convinced that we can never burst out and use our potential, that has us believe that we are limited...

... it knows the truth. That its own 'truth' is a shabby, forlorn version of reality. That its covering up a diamond that is meant to shine out into the world with all its brilliance.

And that God is waiting to shine His light through that gem stone out onto the world. Not just for yourself, so that you can make a claim to its light. That would be the return of the false voice.

That light you have inside is meant to shine for everyone to see - for their sake. Because when they see it, they will realize that they also have a light to shine, and they will reflect it back at you.

And the most amazing thing happens when I'm shining my sun on you - just for you - and you are shining your star on me - just for me...

... because at that moment, there is no me, and there is no you. There's only the light that we're shining, which is the light of God.