Blog
Saturday, 27 April 2019
11:35
“The Ripple”
“My life” was the title I was going to use for this blog. However, as I typed it out, I thought “how much of anything that I have ever experienced can really be called ‘mine’”? It then became apparent to me, that there has never been a time in my life that what I experienced was all mine. All my life experiences, in some way, have had an impact on somebody. I heard, in my mind or spirit, the term “Ripple Effect”. Although, I was pretty confident, that I knew the meaning of this, I went ahead and looked it up.
The meaning of ripple effect:
“A series of things that happen as the result of a particular action or event:”
Wow! That is what I am. This is what you are. Yes, we are a person, loved and valued by God, but we are also part of something bigger and far reaching then ourselves. Every person, since their birth, has had an effect on someone other than themselves. No matter who we are, news of our coming had an effect on someone. Somebody was waiting for us and expecting our arrival.
Somebody change what they were doing, and where they were going, because of me and you. A Dr, nurse, the hospital (as they made room for us to arrive), and obviously a mother. Somebody was waiting for me and you, waiting to hold you waiting to speak to you. We caused curiosity in someone’s mind, as they wondered what we might look like, sound like and even smell like. Although, we were experiencing birth, someone was experiencing us. You and I are that “particular action or event that created a series of things to happen”. We are a ripple that started with our arrival and will continue as long as humanity continues.
Today as I look at my first grandson, the truth of this reality is clearer for me right now, then it has ever been. I thought about my life, I thought about how my grandson is part of “a series of things that have happened “, because of my existence. I thought about the times in my life when I lived without this reality, believing that my actions, thoughts, and choices only affect me. I thought about the times I lived with a reckless, destructive and selfish spirit and how it could and did have an effect on others. I also thought about how, at times, I still live this way. I thought about the ripple effect, of my life, on my wife, my children, my grandchildren, that are here now, and are yet to come. I wondered how my life has impacted them. I wish I could say, I experienced joy and peace as I reflected on this, but that would not be true. I know, in some way, the way I lived my life, has left a mark, a bruise, or a blemish on those that I love. This truth broke my heart. I also thought about how I am able to live my life today, and from this day on, with the reality of the “Ripple Effect”. I asked God to help me live my life so that the ripples I cause will bring those, I love, to comfort and safety opposed to difficulty, adversity and pain.