Mark 9:35-37

"And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,
Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me."
Mark 9:35-37


This is cool.  God is telling us here that greatness is an incredible different thing than what we usually think of in our society.  It isn't being rich or owning a company, or being brilliant and inventing something... none of those things that usually come up.  It is helping other people, and serving each other.  It's accepting and loving children, and not only children physically, but children in other ways.  Remembering that we are children as well... we need to "play nice." :)  If we want to succeed and be powerful and great and be first in line when we get to heaven... the best thing we can do is serve other people, and help *them* to be powerful and great, and help them get in the same line.  Ironically, the lesson here is that to be first, you have to be last. :)  And maybe we'll learn that being first isn't all that important. :)  We aren't all that important as individuals, apart and alone.  It's when we participate in a community, when we build connections and relationships with other people, and with God... when we are working towards a greater good, that's when we become important... and the very time when we don't care about being important.  And definitely not to say that we don't have individual worth... we do, we are amazing, beautiful, pure, brilliant beings with infinite potential... but what good is potential if you don't go and do something with it?  Let's go out there and build something that is greater than ourselves.  It's too big to do alone, but together... who can stop us?  God is one our side, after all. :)