“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16

By Jerry Malarkey
Youth Commission Chair

We all inhabit various platforms in our lives from which we have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Oftentimes young people feel there isn’t a lot they can do that would make an impact on someone’s life.

I would like to share with you the story of a young high school student who had a platform thrust upon him through a difficult and unfortunate occurrence. He chose to use it as an opportunity to help others who were going through a similar experience.

Early in his high school career, Mike’s father developed cancer. The cancer progressed over the next year or so and Mike’s father passed away during Mike’s junior year. I was Mike’s high school counselor, and we had many conversations during his dad’s illness and after his passing. Naturally, this was a very difficult time in his life and Mike’s grieving took its toll on him physically and emotionally.

In one of our conversations several months after his dad passed away, Mike said to me that he knew there were other young people in the high school who had recently experienced the loss of a parent. He wondered if we could get these kids together and meet once a week to share experiences, grief, and coping strategies. We put together a list of five other students who had all lost their father within the last year to cancer, suicide, or sudden heart attack. I made it clear to Mike that I had not lost a parent as a teenager, so I was not in a position to share my experience with the group.

I facilitated the group, but Mike often directed the conversations and made it comfortable for the others to share their feelings and their personal grieving process. The effect this group had on the participants was unlike anything I had experienced before in my career. I still run into some of the members and each time they talk about the value of the group and especially Mike’s role in helping them through the impact of losing their dad.

So, when you think there’s nothing you can do to help someone through a rough time in their life, I challenge you to think of Mike and how he used his unfortunate experience to help his peers. In this Easter season of rebirth and renewal, what platform might you have that would give you the opportunity to make a difference?