Ripples in the Pond

I have spent a lot of time talking about Les Miserables recently.  I have read the book and seen the musical, but have not yet seen the movie (despite the presence of Hugh Jackman...be still my heart!).  I talked to an Australian missionary on the plane about it the other day and then I heard a sermon this morning about the movie and its themes. 

But what I find myself thinking the most about is ripples in the pond and how you can never know how one simple act on your part can greatly affect another person.  In Les Miserables the fact that a priest lied to the police about Jean Val Jean stealing from him affected Jean Val Jean for the rest of his life, and caused him to change entirely how he was living. 

Have you ever had people come back and tell you about conversations that you had with them that you have long forgotten?  I have, it is rather humbling to think that they remember your words so clearly: words that you have forgotten.  Do we ever really think about the power we have with our words? In the blog world that is hugely obvious.  If you have a blog, don't you look forward to people's comments?  Don't you hope to see that you sharing your thoughts made a connection with someone else?  We have the power with our words to lift people up or push them down.  How many of us remember the harsh words of a parent or a teacher? Many of us are still reaping the rewards of those words for good or for ill?  I think we all subliminally realize that our words have power, if we didn't, then why are the mean comments that are made usually anonymous?

Marlo Thomas wrote a a book called "The Right Words at the Right Time." Famous people remembered words that changed their lives and not all of them were positive, uplifting words. Marlo Thomas remembers telling her father that she wanted to change her name from Thomas so she wouldn't be associated with him.  He told her that thoroughbreds wear blinders so they can't see the other horses.  He told her to "Run your own race, baby."

Do we ever really think about the power we have with our actions?  Simple thing like having patience with someone when they are struggling.  Letting another car out in front of you even though they roared past you to try and jump the line. How about asking the irritating person you work with to a party you are throwing because you know they'll be alone otherwise?

Although I am not a Buddhist, I find I think often on a verse I read once from “A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life” by Shantideva, a Buddhist master.

For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world.

I am coming to realize that everyone will dispel the misery of the world with simple acts and that misery will be dispelled often without us even seeing our part in it and perhaps that is how it should be.