At our church last Sunday, on Mother's Day, Judy, a mother herself, shared the following meditation at the Lord's Table.
Probably all of us at some time in our lives have dropped a stone into a clear pool of water and watched the ripples spread out, growing larger and larger and larger. But have you thought about what happens when the stone is dropped and then we turn away to do something else? The ripples still spread, even though we may not even notice them.
My Mom's life was like that. She made many ripples during her life and touched many lives in positive ways, ways that she didn't even know. Raising several foster children, for example, was to me one of the most important things she did. Each of those children, those ripples, have now gone on to touch other lives in positive ways, and so on and on it goes.
A good friend of mine recently passed away and she too cast many stones into the lake of life. She and her husband raised 23 foster BOYS! Talk about ripples!! Who knows what each of those kids contributed in the world and in all of the other lives they touched.
Even the smallest act of kindness can start the ripples; it doesn't have to be something as big as raising a child. Isaiah 54:10 says, "And the Lord said, 'For the mountains shall depart and the hills be moved, but My kindness shall not depart from you." So may we all remember that every small kindness we perform for someone else starts the ripples and sets things in motion for good.
Jesus set something in motion when he instructed his disciples to continue preaching His word, even after he was gone. His word would "make the ripples" spread throughout the world. And of course they did. Also, when Jesus broke the bread and blessed the cup in the upper room and asked his disciples to do this in remembrance of him he set in motion an action which has continued until today -- like a pebble cast into the sea of time and its circles touching the shore of our lives today.
Let us pray: Lord, grant us the wisdom to always move through your world, doing your will the best we can, and using small kindnesses to make ripples of good in the world.
