Small Acts of Compassion
Have you ever contemplated the impact you make on the world?
That is a key theme in one of my favorite movies, It’s a Wonderful Life. I love watching Clarence, an angel desperately trying to earn his wings, show down-and-out George Bailey the impact to the community and to his loved ones had he never been born.
The effect we make is more impactful than most of us imagine. Mother Teresa states this eloquently: “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to cause many ripples.”
This ripple effect is touched upon in Cloud Whispers when Katie wonders how she can make a difference through her seemingly normal life. Below is an excerpt of Katie discussing this topic with her spirit guides:
“Cause and effect on an individual level triggers downstream cause and effect,” Black Eagle said. “Every action causes an infinite number of reactions and each becomes a thread in the tapestry of the universe.”
As Katie contemplated, Black Eagle drew a viewing square. She lifted her head to look at the screen, surprised to see scenes from her own life. The little girl whose name she’d drawn from the Angel Tree, and that girl’s joyful Christmas morning as she opened her stocking and the gifts Katie had purchased.
Black Eagle touched a finger to the screen and it froze on a clip of the girl’s parents. “Your gift not only touched Julia, but her parents, Jack and Ellen, too,” Black Eagle said. Katie leaned in to get a closer look at them. Both were smiling. Ellen’s hand rested on Jack’s arm as he gazed up at her with caring eyes. “Julia’s parents had both been laid off from their jobs. They had been stressed about Christmas and fighting regularly.” He tipped his head toward the screen. “That Christmas gave Ellen and Jack some much needed peace, joy, and hope. Jack found a job the week after Christmas, and Ellen, two months later. As Julia grew, her parents taught her the importance of giving back.” Black Eagle made a fist. When he opened it, a small river stone sat on the palm of his hand. “Good deeds are like skipping pebbles in a pond. It’s not just the single ripple that is affected, but the multiple rings radiating outward, bumping into one another and intersecting, all a part of the downstream impacts from that one small pebble.”
Katie gaped at Black Eagle in amazement. She’d never thought of it like that or considered the many ripples that occurred from a simple benevolent act.
Black Eagle’s smile expanded. “We’re just getting started.” He waved a hand in front of the screen and new clips streamed. Ellen and Jack selecting names from an Angel Tree, and as Julia got older, her participation in the Christmas giving. A homeless man Katie had given money to used the money to buy a warm meal. While dining, the man met the restaurant’s owner who hired him on the spot and helped him get back on his feet. Katie’s heart tugged watching the formerly homeless man reunite with his adult son.
The next scene showed the son visiting an older woman. Posie tapped the screen and Katie studied the clip of him hugging a woman with the same robin-blue eyes. “Not only did Donnie’s dad get his life back on track, but Donnie progressed as well,” Posie said. “He had blamed his mother for his father’s situation, and for many years, Donnie had been estranged from both of his parents. Through his father’s growth, Donnie put aside his past hostilities and fostered new relationships with his father and his mother.”
The episodes of Katie’s life flew by like images on a movie screen. A kind word, a smile, a helping hand. Gifts, large and small, material and intangible, all influencing lives. Examples continued to stream, one after the other depicting cause and effect and the countless succeeding impacts. Katie watched as Donnie’s young children met their grandpa, and later their grandma, for the very first time. She saw Julia, the young girl from the Angel tree, go to college and becoming a teacher. An amazing, extraordinary teacher who worked in a Title 1 school. Over the years, Julia touched the lives of hundreds of low-income students. Observing the downstream impacts in each of those children’s lives, and the lives they subsequently touched, was nothing short of mind-boggling. One saved lives after a boating accident. Another became a doctor, also saving lives. But what really struck Katie was the impact from those who led seemingly ordinary lives. Their simple, day-to-day acts—a smile, words of encouragement, a kind gesture—in turn caused another positive action which like ripples in the pond, caused another and then another, until they all merged into bigger turning points in the lives of the recipients. That was how little ‘ol her could make a difference. Perhaps it wasn’t the grand gestures, but instead, the small acts of compassion that made the greatest impact in people’s lives, and thus generated the greatest contribution to the collective.
If you like headstrong heroines, heartwarming stories of family and forgiveness, and new age concepts, then you’ll love Cloud Whispers. To purchase, click here: https://goo.gl/N9aC38.
To sign up for Sedona Hutton blogs, click here: https://www.sedonahutton.com/
and scroll down to the newsletter section.
That is a key theme in one of my favorite movies, It’s a Wonderful Life. I love watching Clarence, an angel desperately trying to earn his wings, show down-and-out George Bailey the impact to the community and to his loved ones had he never been born.
The effect we make is more impactful than most of us imagine. Mother Teresa states this eloquently: “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to cause many ripples.”
This ripple effect is touched upon in Cloud Whispers when Katie wonders how she can make a difference through her seemingly normal life. Below is an excerpt of Katie discussing this topic with her spirit guides:
“Cause and effect on an individual level triggers downstream cause and effect,” Black Eagle said. “Every action causes an infinite number of reactions and each becomes a thread in the tapestry of the universe.”
As Katie contemplated, Black Eagle drew a viewing square. She lifted her head to look at the screen, surprised to see scenes from her own life. The little girl whose name she’d drawn from the Angel Tree, and that girl’s joyful Christmas morning as she opened her stocking and the gifts Katie had purchased.
Black Eagle touched a finger to the screen and it froze on a clip of the girl’s parents. “Your gift not only touched Julia, but her parents, Jack and Ellen, too,” Black Eagle said. Katie leaned in to get a closer look at them. Both were smiling. Ellen’s hand rested on Jack’s arm as he gazed up at her with caring eyes. “Julia’s parents had both been laid off from their jobs. They had been stressed about Christmas and fighting regularly.” He tipped his head toward the screen. “That Christmas gave Ellen and Jack some much needed peace, joy, and hope. Jack found a job the week after Christmas, and Ellen, two months later. As Julia grew, her parents taught her the importance of giving back.” Black Eagle made a fist. When he opened it, a small river stone sat on the palm of his hand. “Good deeds are like skipping pebbles in a pond. It’s not just the single ripple that is affected, but the multiple rings radiating outward, bumping into one another and intersecting, all a part of the downstream impacts from that one small pebble.”
Katie gaped at Black Eagle in amazement. She’d never thought of it like that or considered the many ripples that occurred from a simple benevolent act.
Black Eagle’s smile expanded. “We’re just getting started.” He waved a hand in front of the screen and new clips streamed. Ellen and Jack selecting names from an Angel Tree, and as Julia got older, her participation in the Christmas giving. A homeless man Katie had given money to used the money to buy a warm meal. While dining, the man met the restaurant’s owner who hired him on the spot and helped him get back on his feet. Katie’s heart tugged watching the formerly homeless man reunite with his adult son.
The next scene showed the son visiting an older woman. Posie tapped the screen and Katie studied the clip of him hugging a woman with the same robin-blue eyes. “Not only did Donnie’s dad get his life back on track, but Donnie progressed as well,” Posie said. “He had blamed his mother for his father’s situation, and for many years, Donnie had been estranged from both of his parents. Through his father’s growth, Donnie put aside his past hostilities and fostered new relationships with his father and his mother.”
The episodes of Katie’s life flew by like images on a movie screen. A kind word, a smile, a helping hand. Gifts, large and small, material and intangible, all influencing lives. Examples continued to stream, one after the other depicting cause and effect and the countless succeeding impacts. Katie watched as Donnie’s young children met their grandpa, and later their grandma, for the very first time. She saw Julia, the young girl from the Angel tree, go to college and becoming a teacher. An amazing, extraordinary teacher who worked in a Title 1 school. Over the years, Julia touched the lives of hundreds of low-income students. Observing the downstream impacts in each of those children’s lives, and the lives they subsequently touched, was nothing short of mind-boggling. One saved lives after a boating accident. Another became a doctor, also saving lives. But what really struck Katie was the impact from those who led seemingly ordinary lives. Their simple, day-to-day acts—a smile, words of encouragement, a kind gesture—in turn caused another positive action which like ripples in the pond, caused another and then another, until they all merged into bigger turning points in the lives of the recipients. That was how little ‘ol her could make a difference. Perhaps it wasn’t the grand gestures, but instead, the small acts of compassion that made the greatest impact in people’s lives, and thus generated the greatest contribution to the collective.
If you like headstrong heroines, heartwarming stories of family and forgiveness, and new age concepts, then you’ll love Cloud Whispers. To purchase, click here: https://goo.gl/N9aC38.
To sign up for Sedona Hutton blogs, click here: https://www.sedonahutton.com/
and scroll down to the newsletter section.
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