Glass of Water · 25 February 2017
A Glass of Water
taken by Derek Jensen
This work is in the public domain.
I was reminded twice in the last few weeks of how irrelevant we can sometimes feel.
I do not remember exactly what I was reading, but I read the saying about how replaceable we all are. The thought goes that we make as much of an impression as when you pull your finger out of a glass of water. There might be a few ripples for a short time, but the impression is gone. And there is no evidence whatsoever that your finger had ever been there. In short, we make no lasting impression. Or so the thought would have us believe.
The nice thing about water though is that it has more than one form. If you could somehow keep from losing your finger to frostbite (or crushing) in the process, you could leave a lasting impression in a glass of ice. Put your finger in a glass of water and let it freeze, then pull your finger out of that glass and your impression will last as long as the ice lasts. Or if you take it one step further and add calcium sulfate (you could use flour instead), your impression could last forever. Or at least until your mom gets tired of your old art projects and throws away your plaster of Paris finger impression.
So maybe you really can make a difference. You can leave an impression. It just matters where you are trying to leave it.
Which brings me to my second reminder of how irrelevant we can sometimes feel.
The head pastor at our church wondered aloud in his sermon if we would really be missed. If an individual just disappeared from the congregation or indeed from the face of the earth, would anybody notice? Would anybody care? Would anybody even ask where the individual went?
I wonder about this all the time. I wonder if my writing makes any difference to anybody. Or my videos. Or my teaching. I wonder if I make any difference at all. Oh, I do not wonder like George Bailey, the main character in It’s a Wonderful Life. I know I make a difference in somebody’s life. Hopefully, a positive one. Hopefully, one that God finds acceptable. But I sometimes wonder just how much of a difference I make.
Well, I suppose I could find out how much difference my writing makes. I could just stop being MediocreMan to see if anybody really notices an obscure blog is missing from the blogosphere. Oh, I would still strive to be mediocre, but I wonder if anybody would really care if my musings went away. Ah well, it does not really matter. I am going to keep writing. I am going to keep publishing. I am going to keep being MediocreMan. Musing each week.
Who knows, maybe my finger really is in something besides a glass of water. Maybe I can leave a lasting impression. Maybe I am not completely irrelevant.
© 2017 Michael T. Miyoshi
| Share on facebook | Tweet |
|
Comment
Commenting is closed for this article.
| Snow Day | Parentheses |