One of my favorite TV shows is "Joan of Arcadia," which was canceled more than 7 years ago. Every few years or so, I get on YouTube and watch the entire two seasons. The main premise is such: Joan is a typical teenage girl, until one day God decides to talk to her. Appearing in various forms, God asks her to do a variety of tasks. In the middle of the first season, the idea of "ripples" is introduced. Ripples can be either good, or bad. Joan doesn't always get to see the ripples of her actions, but they are always there. One of my favorite times of when she gets to see the ripples is God asks her to take the school bully to school, but she doesn't feel like it made a difference. God tells her it does.
I like this idea of ripples; that everything we do, every decision we make, affects more than just us. A ripple starts at one point, then it spreads, getting ever wider and encompassing more and more of the surrounding area. Our decisions may start with us, but never just end there. Good or baad, the ripples keep going on and on.
What kind of ripples are we sending out?
I really do believe that our decisions, our everyday decisions--where to get a job, what to read, who we talk to--they all will change the world. Maybe not the same way curing cancer will, but the way a butterfly flapping it's wings in China does. Somewhere down the line it could became a hurricane. Every ripple we send out changes something and someone.
We may not always understand why God asks us to do something, or inspires us to do something, but there is always a reason. It will probably benefit us, but it will send out ripples that will affect others. The first drop in the pond never sees where it's ripples go.
I hope my ripples are good.
No comments:
Post a Comment