In his famous 1988 novel “Foucault’s Pendulum,” Umberto Eco made the following astute observation: “I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.”
This is certainly true in my life. My father’s example of hard work, love of reading, passion for the Gospel, and walking by God’s Word has had a huge impact on me. He lives this way not for public praise but because he loves the Lord and seeks to walk out God’s standards for manhood. With each passing day, I am more thankful that he is my dad.
But my dad teaches not only through example, but also through specific and intentional instruction. As I get older, I find myself often going to him for advice and perspective. One of the great lessons he taught me really sticks out during federal and state elections.
The lesson goes like this:
Every little boy in the South has, at some point, enjoyed skipping rocks on water and throwing them into a pond to see a big splash. When you throw a rock into water, it creates a pattern of concentric circles that expand out from the rock, growing in diameter until the effect disappears into the greater body of water. The closer you get to the rock, the smaller the circle is, but the more impact and force it carries. The farther you get from the rock, the larger the circle grows, yet its impact and force quickly weaken.
As my dad explained, this is a heavenly lesson on how and where God wants us to focus our time and attention. The rock is like you and me. The water is like the arena of life, the time and space in which we are graciously given the opportunity to glorify God and help our fellow man. And the concentric circles encompass the people and places that we are privileged to impact.
The closer one gets to the individual rocks of our lives, the smaller our circles of influence become – but they also carry more impact and force. On the other hand, the farther out one moves from the center, the bigger our circles of influence become – yet our impact and force quickly weaken.
Each of us is privileged to have circles of influence that extend outward, encompassing less space with more impact and then more space with less impact. These circles of influence are inescapable and exist whether we are aware of them or not. They also vie for our time and attention, and it is our responsibility to manage these circles of influence in such a way that we redeem the time and maximize our impact for God’s kingdom and the freedom and prosperity of our people.
I’ve seen this illustration play out in my own life. For years, I fell into the trap of placing far more importance on federal elections than state elections. I forgot that the State House, local courthouse, and especially my own house are far more important than the White House.
Voting is an essential and important duty at every level of government, but when it comes to what occupies most of my time, attention, prayer and resources, there should be no doubt that we must focus the majority of our lives on those smaller circles of influence where our impact and force are the greatest.
As our Lord taught us, “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much,” and this pattern of small-scale, focused faithfulness is a force multiplier that, when we all link arms together with shared local priorities, will change the world.
Those big circles of influence definitely matter, and I praise God for the courageous and faithful public servants who step into those bigger arenas for Alabama and for America.
But the true greatness that sits at the core of Alabama and America recovering, restoring, and improving her Christian glory and political freedom will be found when we all give 80% of our focus to the circles of influence closest to us, 20% to the bigger circles, and 100% to God and our fellow man. Let’s make Alabama local again.
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough serves in Alabama's Seventh District.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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