Ripple Effect

“Having a vested interest in other souls unconditionally creates a ripple effect that produces miracles in the lives of those around us.”

―     Molly Friedenfeld, “The Book of Simple Human Truths”

We just never know.

A few weeks ago, waiting for a table at one of Austin’s best breakfast joints, a gregarious guy introduced himself and joked with us for several minutes.  We had some things in common, among them college baseball, common career paths (and a current common state of those paths) and, clearly, great taste in Austin breakfast joints.  He was a hoot, and we all left smiling.

Tomorrow morning, I’m having coffee with a guy he introduced me to.  The meeting holds some promise for all involved.

Another of the guys with my new friend that morning was a very successful college baseball coach and former teammate of his.  Tonight, I discovered that he’s fighting the good fight with colon cancer — and I join the long list of people praying for his success.

What’s my point?

We just never know.  Right here.  Right now.  Something is at work, and we might never know what it was.  But it’s there, and it’s real.  Yet, we’ll spend most of our right nows worrying about some far off tomorrow or some thing that may or may not matter if we ever get to it.

Right here.  Right now.  A ripple is being created.  Strike that.  Ripples, plural, are being created.  Which shores they will touch, and which lives they will change may never be known to us, but they are — “it” is — real, and we’re a part of it.