Faith
No matter what your particular religious persuasion, and even if you are a devout atheist, faith in the power of right and good is a highly important human quality.
Every day of our lives, we interact with others. Every one of our actions has consequences, but the consequences may not be known to us.
We need to have faith in the power of right and good, as our actions have consequences and sometimes have far-reaching ripple effects.
Consider, for example, the teacher who helped a third grade student overcome a problem in learning science and math, with the student ultimately becoming a doctor. The ripple effects of the teacher’s good work extended to thousands of patients successfully treated by the doctor, and perhaps the teacher never even came to know that the student became a doctor.
On a smaller scale, consider the woman who helped an elderly man regain his footing following a fall, with a father and son seeing this from a half block away. The elderly man has been helped and later recounts the incident to his daughter, and she has a heart to heart discussion with her father about what may be needed to prevent another fall. And the father and son go home and recount the story to the family, with everyone learning the importance of doing a good dead. And all of this might be unbeknownst to our original Good Samaritan.
Faith in the power of right and good provides greater meaning to everything we do. We cannot possibly know the consequences, the ripples, of all of our actions, but faith helps us reinforce the importance of making the right choices.
“Faith—is the Pierless Bridge
Supporting what We See
Unto the Scene that We do not—
Too slender for the eye
It bears the Soul as bold
As it were rocked in Steel
With Arms of Steel at either side—
It joins—behind the Veil”
Discussion
Think of a good deed you did for someone.
In what way how might this have played out beyond what you are aware of?
What were/are/will be the potential ripples?
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