Ripples in a Pond – Strangers

Greetings Dear Reader,

For some time my eldest Son had a job as the assistant manager of a convenience store.  We all knew that his work ethic and good nature would serve him well.  It was a survival job to get him through college.

One day someone came to me and said that she had encountered my Son at his job.  She knew it was my Son because of the way he treated her as a customer.  He was polite and kind.  She said that as she was leaving after this brief transaction he said, “take care” with a genuineness that she rarely heard.  Having described my children often to her she knew instantly that he must be my Son.

It is a given that I love and am proud of my Children.  What my Son did in that moment is drive home the impact that we have on strangers.  We create long large ripples in the lives of others we do not know.  What we say and do to people we may never encounter again matters.

If I am impatient with a service person or even rude to a fellow motorist I have no way of knowing where those ripples will land.  If I fail to give the kindness Christ commands me to give to others then I am creating ripples that can echo destructively in the lives of others.

The opposite is true as well.  A kind word and some humility can go far in the lives of strangers.  I can live out the Gospel by being good to people when I am in a hurry or things do not go well.  I also find that those ripples roll back on me as well.  I know many shopkeepers, once strangers, who instantly smile when I go into their shop.  Strangers have turned into friends because I chose to be kind.  This is yet another ripple caused by being good to others.

I must always choose to be kind to strangers.  After all, I never know when doing so will come back to me in ways that give joy to my soul.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."