The Pebble's Ripples
Without a faith in God that assures me He is at work for my
best and that of those I love, many times I would have given up. The older I
get, the more my life does not flow, as I had perceived it would.
We all make decisions and speak words, many times without
much thought-or perhaps with much thought(?) that affect the lives of others. As
a pebble tossed in a pond sends out ripples, our actions and words, our life
pebbles, can touch another with life changing and soul scarring ripples.
In this my final few decades of life, as the last chapters
of my life story are being written, and the pages of the past begin to yellow
and take on that musty smell common to old and neglectfully forgotten books, it
has felt as if I am standing on the opposite shore of all other lives that
touch mine- and rocks are being thrown. I am losing my shoreline to the erosion
of the choices, misunderstandings, and unkind judgments of others.
I could stem the damage being done, but at what cost to an
innocent? I refuse to throw the huge boulders needed to stem the raging waves
that are eating away at what should be my peaceful sandy shores. Yet, I like to
think that these boulders will enhance my foundation of faith and trust, and
one day I will realize that a shore of peaceful sand held a misconception of
importance.
Unfortunately, knowing these things does not remove, or even
diminish, the pain that holds me captive behind the growing wall of rocks
amassing my life’s shoreline. However, I believe one day I will put on the
harness of a rock climber and with the aid of my faithful belayer (Christ) I will scale that imposing wall
of rock and all will be chaos free. Then, as I stand atop what was meant to
bury me and defeat my spirit beneath its crushing weight, I will see the entire
vast array of what my life was purposed to be.
Until then my prayer is that I will choose to toss out into
life pebbles of love and understanding, pebbles causing truthful and gentle ripples
in the waters that caress the lives of others more often than choosing, inadvertently
or selfishly, those that cause demolition and destruction. My biggest fear is
that I would callously cause another life to withdraw from riding on the sparkling
waters of life because my pebbles’ ripples caused too much pain. I pray I will
never force another to retreat from rippling the hopeful and promising waters
of their life by my choices.
Often we are not aware of how our ripples interact with
those of another life. The pebble leaves our hand, hits the water and the
ripples subside leaving what looks like calm waters; but water moves beneath the
apparent surface stillness. Our self-righteous
shaming moral judgments and selfishness, done thoughtlessly or with intent, can
shatter a hurting soul.
My hope and prayer is that the ripples that rise and fall from
the pebbles I have tossed are ones that tug at the heart. I pray that as God
orchestrates my life and the lives of those around me, that the swell from my
pebbles will continue to touch those of others for years to come in a kind and
gentle way.
I pray that God in His graciousness would send others into
all our lives to toss pebbles that gently rock and comfort us and assure us of
His unconditional love, especially when we are struggling. Most of all, I pray that the pebbles you and
I toss create ripples of the same beauty and love as those of Jesus.
October 26, 21015
© Copyright 2015
