Brighten the Corner Where You Are
 |
| Roses from my garden |
Brighten the Corner Where You Are
~ by Ira D. Ogdon (1872-1964) ~
Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar,
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Refrain:
Brighten the corner where you are!
Brighten the corner where you are!
Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar;
Brighten the corner where you are!
Just above are clouded skies that you may help to clear,
Let not narrow self your way debar;
Though into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Refrain
Here for all your talent you may surely find a need,
Here reflect the bright and Morning Star;
Even from your humble hand the Bread of Life may feed,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Refrain
Do not wait to shed your light afar,
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Brighten the corner where you are!
Brighten the corner where you are!
Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar;
Brighten the corner where you are!
Let not narrow self your way debar;
Though into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Here reflect the bright and Morning Star;
Even from your humble hand the Bread of Life may feed,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Refrain
*****
You don't need to be a missionary and relocate to another country to make a differences. You don't need to do charity work to make a differences. In fact you can "brighten a corner" from your computer via a Christian blog, through your Facebook page (keeping it positive and uplighting), when you go shopping, at work, reaching out and helping your neighbour, via a letter to a friend. As this wonderful hymn says . . . do not wait to shed your light afar, brighten the corner where you are. So often people think they need to do something (called to do something), however, often its right there under their noses and they can't see it. For mothers with children, brighten the corner where your children and your husband are, this bright light that you shine is by far the most important one that you can do, all others are simply extras when you have the time.
But it doesn't just mean only preaching the Word . . . it also means reaching out and helping, perhaps when you see a person struggling at the supermarket or someone looking sad who needs a smiling face. Just a simple gesture might remove the black cloud above them.
Lets all brighten in our own small corners this coming week and make a differences.
And whatever you do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
(Colossians 3:17)
*****
Such a great idea to brighten our own small corners.
ReplyDeleteIf we each brighten our own corners, can you imagine how that light would spread.
DeleteI love this! What a beautiful reminder to bloom where we are planted.
ReplyDeleteThankyou so much for visiting :) Have a lovely weekend.
DeleteVery needful reminder, Jo. No sense going around causing gloom - far better to bring cheer! :)
ReplyDeleteGloom is bad!, bring cheer to those around us is so important.
DeleteIt amazes me how we, who don't know each other can be thinking and blogging on the same topics. I have just written a post so similar to this that it makes me smile. Thank you for sharing this on Good Morning Mondays I really appreciate it. Blessings
ReplyDeletegreat minds think a like!!
DeleteI have to say that it's an interesting study in humanity to share smiles in public places. :-) There are those who will instantly smile back. There are those who look somewhat confused, as if to say, "Did you really mean to smile at *me*? Wait, what am I supposed to do with that? Oh, yeah...smile back." Then there are those who will give you a tiny, tight looking little courteous smile because you intruded upon them with yours. :-) And, of course, there are the ones who are actually kind of annoyed because they had a good grump going and you had to smear some cheerful on them with your friendly smile. LOL Some people just refuse to respond and even act like they're almost threatened by a smile. I really wonder about that last group.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting also to be friendly with people you have to deal with in public - clerks, cashiers, librarians, etc. Sometimes they respond with friendliness or they accept your cheerfulness, other times they feel compelled to dump their troubles on you (either because you were friendly or because they can't stand your cheerfulness - not sure which sometimes), and other times they act like they you're a freak. (I found people really unresponsive around the area we visited near Brisbane compared to what we usually see here in Texas. I'm not sure if it was because I was foreign or what.)
I don't know why that would be, Mary - we usually find people really friendly. The other day when I went out and had to go to several different stores, for example, I had a chat (and a good laugh) with all the cashiers in each store and some customers I encountered! People in this area tend to be very relaxed and cheerful - more so than in the Sydney area, in our experience.
Delete
DeleteMary,
I also do the “smile experiment” on people in the building where I work (as there are so many people in one place from very diverse backgrounds, locations and levels of importance’s) and its very interesting. Sometimes I get a big broad smile and a hello, or the smile which is friendly but not over the top (conservative). Other times it’s a small smile (discrete, not quite sure to smile or not), others are just ignore me or I get the nod in return (the nod doesn’t happen outside of the building which is interesting). I find its often the young (expensive dressed) females that can be the rudest compared to most older men and those from the country more likely to smile broadly compared to those from Sydney! The more important the person is the less likely they are to smile broadly (which I find very arrogant).
When out and about shopping most people are friendly and quite happy to chat and smile, perhaps because I am chatty with them. I always find the staff in my local chemist are the friendliness compared to the staff in my local library that tend not to smile (which always disappoints me). It is an interesting way to study people with their different responses.
Great encouragement! Like they say, bloom where you are planted :) I also love your photography Jo. The roses are so romantic looking! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe photograph was taken in my living room - I had placed a bunch of beautiful pink roses in a lovely blue teapot as the colour combination worked so well. :)) Wouldn't it be great if more and more women bloomed, what a blessing to our families.
DeleteWhat a great reminder! To get out and "do" and make a difference versus waiting for "good" to come to us or others to do for us. Great post! Visiting from Titus Tuesday :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by :))
Delete