I have no idea where the image came from; I have never
thought about this before this time.
Suddenly there popped into my head the curious question, what if I were
a drop of water? It was not raining
outside. I was nowhere near running
water. Perhaps it was God’s gift to me
or I really am going crazy! I prefer to
think it was the former. God gave me a
question---albeit a curious question.
What if I were a drop of water?
There are always a couple ways of looking at something:
being and doing. If I were water, that
takes care of the being aspect. If I
were water, then I am (be) water. The
“doing” aspect is more intriguing in this case.
If I were water, what would I do?
Of course, the obvious answer is I would get things wet! So the question is, if I am a single drop of
water, what do I want to get wet? A
single drop is not much water.
If I were a drop of water, what could I do to make a
difference? Maybe it is because I am a
farm boy, but the answer came to me. I
would fall on a small seed. It could be
a flower seed. Because I was a farm boy,
I knew the necessity of some moisture to make seeds germinate, take root and
grow. If I were a drop of water, I would
have one chance. I could fall on one
place and only once. So I would land on
a flower seed and hope for the best.
With that single act, I would be the hope for a flower. The flower seed has the potential for
beauty. But until that potential is
actualized, beauty will never be unleashed.
A single drop of water might be all the difference. It is a small act. It would seem insignificant in the bigger
picture. But without the moisture of the
single drop, fecundity is not possible.
A single drop of water has a right to feels its potency---its ability to
make a difference.
Let turns this little imaginary story into an analogy. Let’s assume each one of us is like that
single drop of water. On our own we may
not be very much. I don’t know how many
drops of water there are in the oceans of the world. That number would have an unbelievable number
of zeros! I do know there are more than
7 billion people in the world. So by
myself, I am not much. But like the
single drop of water, I can potentially make a difference.
To make a difference, I need to look for a “seed” to water,
just like the single drop of water makes a difference with a flower seed. A “seed” is any potential situation where my
involvement will make a difference. It
could be a financial gift of mine. But a
bigger difference normally comes with my personal involvement. Money can be fairly impersonal and, in some
ways, does not cost too much.
You can make a difference by bringing some beauty in the
world, just like the single drop of water commenced the flower seed’s evolving
into a beautiful thing. Or you might
choose to work in a way to bring justice to a situation where injustice
looms. There are still too many places
in our culture where injustice rules the day.
A little involvement by you or me might be enough to change the
situation. We’ll never know unless we
try.
One last thing occurs to me, as I ponder the question, what
if I were a drop of water? It occurs to
me I have only a couple choices: do something as water or do nothing and
eventually evaporate! Only the first
choice has any chance of making a difference.
So the point is to do something.
A drop of water could fall into the ocean. That would be a nice experience of unity for
the drop. It would now be part of a huge
drop of water called an ocean. But that
is not much of a difference-maker.
Rather, the single drop of water is better off looking for a situation
where it can make a difference. On one
flower seed, it can make a profound difference---a transformational
difference. A tiny seed can become a
flower of beauty. That seems miraculous.
So it is with you and me.
We can choose to do nothing and in a comparable way to water, our lives
can evaporate. We can live, make no
difference and lead a life of profound insignificance. Or we can opt for a way of living that makes
a difference. Perhaps we can find a
place to make a difference that no one else can do. A mother does that with a child. A teacher can do it with a student. A factory worker can even do it with a
special approach to his or her own work.
The make a difference is to invite transformation in the
place in which we find ourselves or with the people we find ourselves. Transformation does not have to be
dramatic. It does not have to make the
6:00pm news! Again, think of a single
drop on a tiny seed. It would be hard to
tell anything happened. The
transformation would be hidden and slow.
The water would disappear and make it appear that the water had no
effect. What a mistake that assumption
would be!
So my challenge and your challenge is to figure out where
we can do comparable transformational work in our situations. Personally I have a good chance with
students. They seem to be my “seeds.” Find your own scene and go to work---to your
transformational work.
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