My wife and I took a class at our parish a few years ago, which helped us to identify and develop our personal strengths. We took an online test which and from that they calculated our top five strengths that we naturally possess, and how those strengths can be groomed and tailored to be even better. Interestingly enough, my wife and I both had connectedness as one of our top five.
Connectedness is just that – being able to see the connections between things. Or, as the literature says, …they have the unique ability to ‘connect the dots’ between what is happening in the here and now with deep personal meaning, seeing events, people and the world, able to recognize instinctively that everything that happens is caused by something else. There is a “ripple” that connects people and events together…
A ripple that connects people and events together… For better or for worse.
For every action there is a reaction.
The butterfly effect.
There are no coincidences.
There is a reason for everything.
And so on…
This is not saying that things are scripted out for us, but quite the contrary, we have free will. And our actions all have an effect on those around us, more than we ever know.
Those things we do. And those things that we don’t do. Everything causes a ripple.
First we have David. In the first reading today from Samuel – because of David’s sin – 70,000 people died. There was a ramification. A consequence. A reparation that needed to occur.
When you sin – do you think that is it only God that you offend? Do you feel it is only you that gets hurt?
What if a person is addicted to pornography, for instance? This is a sin – a plague – that has enveloped society, and no one wants to talk about it. All you had to do is watch the Super Bowl halftime show last Sunday, and you can see how mainstream and accepted it is.
This sin is as addictive and as hard to overcome as an addiction to heroin – from what the experts say. One would think that when a person spends hours on a computer or a smartphone, that the only ones they are hurting are themselves. But what about the persons they are objectifying? Prompting the people that put the content online for more.
What about the hours they spend in secret, lying to their spouse and hiding from their family? What about the money in lost hours stealing from their employer while they engage in something that seemingly only affects them?
Think about it… Hundreds of people, if not thousands… All affected. There is a ripple.
And let’s think about the inverse. A ripple from doing nothing. Doing nothing because we think we know better. Or we ask ourselves, what would people think? And we go along with the crowd. We have preconceived notions and ideas of what things are and who people are and we refuse to see something new and good and real that is before us. This is where the Gospel places us today.
Jesus could have done wonders for the people of His hometown, but they refused to see Him for Who He Was, and only for who they knew him to be. They missed out on so much because of not doing, not acting. And likely because of the actions of a few, it affected the entire community. The entire community save a few healings missed an encounter with the Lord, in the flesh, in front of them.
Because of the actions of a few, many suffer. But we’ve also seen in history that because of the actions of a few, many prosper.
The person addicted says No! I need help. I don’t want to do this anymore but I can’t stop. I’m sorry for affecting all these people, for hurting me and my family, those around me, and I want to fix things, and I want to help others who suffer with this, who deal with the ramifications of this…
The person who sees God, but is afraid to stand up and say so, who is afraid to take a stand and say this is Jesus, and this is what He has done in my life, but who finally does so… This person can be the Lords witness to countless people.
For all these scenarios, either way, there is an effect. There is a ripple where hundreds, perhaps thousands or more people will be affected – regardless of the action you take – for better or for worse.
What is it that you will finally do? In what way will you connect your actions with the humanity that you touch – both directly and indirectly?
What ripple will you make?
