Back in April I was lucky enough to take
students from Kennedy to a leadership conference in Chicago called "We
Day" which was sponsored by Me to We
at the All State Arena. Over 10,000
teens were empowered to make a positive change in themselves and the
world. In preparation for the event, All
State began a marketing initiative entitled #theysayproject. I highly recommend a Google search so that
you can hear more about #theysay.......... All State wanted to hear from teens
what they felt others had to say about them, in a sense, how do they feel
profiled by others. I wore that t-shirt
recently and a woman asked me what it was all about and it made me remember
some of the things that I learned when I did my own Google search of the
project.
In the gospel, we hear Jesus ask
"who do you say that I am."
While Father was talking with us about that conversation between Jesus
and The disciples, it also made me think of the #theysayproject for They began
filling in the hashtag . . . .#theysayJeremiah, #theysayElijah,
#theysayagreatprophet. Even Jesus was
profiled based on his behavior. This has
been on my mind quite a bit lately because I am having my own insecurity issues
with how I am perceived by others. Like
many other times in my life that Gospel story came just at the time when I
needed to hear it, reminding me once again that Jesus always has the answer
that I need to hear.
In deeper reflection, I could not help
but think about how I may profile others.
After Jesus asked who do #theysay, he asked who do #yousayIam! This reminds me how my response to others may
make them feel. Words and actions have
such a powerful influence on others and the way that others feel about
themselves. In short, I realize that my
words can either build another up or tear them down. I wonder if Jesus asked this question because
he was feeling discouraged or if the question was more for Peter's
benefit. After all, Jesus was human and
very possibly could have had moments of discouragement and self-doubt. I wonder.
I certainly have moments of self-doubt
and it seems that when this happens to me, as it did in the days preceding
hearing this Gospel story, my God puts in my path others to build me up
#theysaydonotbediscouraged, #theysayyouarebeingthehandsofChrist,
#theysaykeepupthegoodwork. I am once
again refreshed and renewed to continue answering Christ's call to be a servant
to others because I allow these positive words to drown out the negative words
thrust my way.
Always remember the power of your
words. Use them to build instead of
destroy. Times when you may be torn down
from what #theysay about you, turn to the good news and listen to what God has
to say to you. Open the Gospels and hear
what Jesus himself has to say and be strengthened by the power of those
words! Hear this
#theysayIamabeatifulchildofGod!
Shalom,
Tina
Editor’s Note: Searching for hashtags (what used to be
called a pound sign, a tick-tac-toe grid, or a sharp in music back in the
old-days) is very easy. Simply open up a
search engine of your choice such as Google and type in the hashtag and the
string of letters/words following it…no spaces or capital letters. For example, Tina has suggested that you
search #theysay (this reads: hashtag they say).
The results of the search will collect everything (and I mean
everything) that is labeled with #theysay.
You will see tweets, Facebook posts, pictures, videos, etc. One thing to keep in mind is that anyone can
use hashtags and sometimes they are abused or misused. Enjoy!
