Laguna Beach is an art town. It seems as if every other shop in the popular part of downtown is an art gallery. In one gallery there is a print that looks as if it were made for Presidents’ Day. The artist has rendered an imaginary gathering of past Presidents around a table. It looks as if Abraham Lincoln has just cracked a joke and Kennedy and F.D.R. are cracking up. Somehow seeing so many of them all together in such a light makes them all seem so ordinary and human — like any gathering of friends around a poker game. It’s hard to imagine that these men influenced the course of human history as much as they did by the decisions they made. And yet they were no different than any one of us, and no better either.

We are, all of us, human vessels made to contain the Spirit of God. On one hand, we are common, made up of the same stuff; on the other hand, we contain the presence of God in the Holy Spirit who was given to us. We are ordinary; we are extraordinary. What we accomplish will come by faith and through the power of God as we are thrust into life. The more demanding the situation, the more opportunity to grow.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Treasure in a clay pot. Spirit in you and me. Whether you’re the President of the United States or a clerk in the back office, the same elements apply. Get in the picture. Hear, decide and act. You, too, can change the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Today.