One Person, Big Difference

There are only a handful of people who have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal: Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel…Norman Borlaug. Norman, who? Most of us haven’t heard of Dr. Borlaug, a scientist who is credited with the Green Revolution, a series of plant developments that radically changed farming and grain production all around the world. Borlaug’s dogged pursuit of advances in seeds and planting, led to a planet that knows much less hunger and privation. Dr. Borlaug was a humble man who eschewed publicity; nevertheless, he was acknowledged for his world-altering contributions many times before his death in 2009. Some say that Borlaug saved “a billion lives.”

I especially like to read stories about individuals, like Borlaug, who make a significant difference in the world. It is a source of encouragement when we daily face evil, poverty, and violence. In our discouragement, we find ourselves wanting to throw our hands up in despair. Instead, as I look around to my own family, my friends, my church, and my community, I see that there are many individuals working tirelessly to make the world a better place, unrecognized by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, but just as deserving, quietly moving mountains one rock at a time.

While we may never be recognized by the world at large, let us persevere in doing what God has called us to as we hear him tell us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9). We know we are not able to change the world, to address the overwhelming problems that face us from the world inside our own heads to the world as seen from space, but let us continue to be faithful to do our small part every day to save the environment, to make peace in our families, to be good stewards, to reach out to those in need. God, in turn, is ever faithful to take what we give and multiply it hundredfold.