The Ripple Effect

From the time Toby was old enough to walk he and his dad would go down to the pond at the back of their property to skip rocks. It was one of Toby's favorite things to do. Toby’s dad would find a nice smooth, flat rock on the shore and skim it across the pond, counting how many times it skipped. “One, two, three, four…” Then, after the rock plunked into the pond, Toby’s dad would count the ripples the rock made. “One, two, three, four, five…” The two of them would watch as the ripples expanded out across the pond.

They took turns skipping rocks and counting ripples. At first of course, Toby would only get a skip and a ripple or two. As Toby grew up though, he could get as many skips and ripples as his dad. While they skipped rocks, they talked. Toby was always interested in science. He wanted to be a paleontologist (who didn’t?), then a biologist, and now, as his thirteenth birthday approached, a physicist. He was fascinated with the workings of the universe.

Toby and his dad walked down to the pond. The two of them picked up the best rocks they could find and skipped them across the pond. After both rocks made several skips, they fell into the water with a satisfying "sploosh". The ripples intersected each other, sometimes one ripple changing the direction of another, sometimes joining together and making one ripple, most often creating even more ripples. “What do you think about that, son?” Toby’s dad asked.

“What do you mean? It’s simple displacement, dad!” Toby responded, somewhat surprised by his father’s question. “You know that!”

“I know,” Toby’s dad said. “But I’ve been thinking lately that the way these ripples affect each other says a lot about the way the universe works, don’t you think? Life is a series of ripples we create, effected by and affecting everyone else’s ripples.”

Toby thought about this quietly for a minute while they continued to skip rocks. He noticed the intricate patterns the ripples made as two initial splashes turned into an interconnected network of circles, all dancing in sync to the rhythm of the pond, creating and responding, always in motion, constantly changing.

Toby’s dad said “You’re becoming an adult now, and it started me thinking about all the changes I’ve gone through in my life. You’ll start thinking about all the changes you go through in your own life someday, too. I remember when I was thirteen. I thought I knew everything!”

“So you weren’t any different back then, I guess!” Toby joked sarcastically.

“You’re a funny boy,” Toby’s dad said laughingly. “Listen, I’m just going to tell you the one thing that’s surprised me the most, something I never would have thought of when I was a teenager. Probably something I never would have thought if I hadn’t been introduced to the Bible.”

“I knew this would get religious,” Toby said. “I believe in God, dad. I always go to church with you and mom!”

“I know you do, Toby,” his dad replied. “I’ve been thinking about what believing in God really means though. Does faith cause us to create a different sort of ripple in the world? I’ve learned that every action in our lives acts like those ripples the stones create in the pond. The way we treat other people affects the way they treat other people, and the way those people treat others, and so on. Who knows where the ripples of our actions stop, or the lives they change—for better or worse? If we really do believe in God, isn’t it our duty to create ripples of love and change?”

They skimmed rocks silently for a few moments while they both thought about this idea. 

“In school we studied something called ‘The Butterfly Effect’” Toby said. “You know what that is, dad?”

“Sure! That’s a great example. A butterfly flaps it’s wings in New York, and the miniscule air fluctuations it causes interact with millions of other small things, and eventually there’s a typhoon in Japan.”

“I don’t wanna cause any typhoons, pop!” Toby said, only half-jokingly.

“Well Tobe, what if it’s a typhoon of change for the better? Do you remember what pastor said in church this week? That we’re supposed to be the change we want to see?” 

“I remember. He stole that line from Gandhi.” Toby countered.

“I think he gave credit. Anyway, what do you think that means?” Toby’s dad asked.

“I have a question, dad,” Toby interjected, “Why did we stop skipping rocks?”

They both laughed.

“I get what you’re trying to say,” Toby said thoughtfully. “Be conscious of the way I act and treat people well, because we never know how our actions affect others, who then affect others, etc., etc., etc. Create ripples of love and don’t by a typhoon.”

Toby’s dad replied, “That’s true. But I think there’s more to it. For people like you and I who believe in God, I think it means we have a duty to our faith—a duty to God to create ripples of love in the world. To help others however we can. Maybe this means you make beautiful music, maybe this means you build houses or serve coffee, maybe this means you join the Peace Corps. 

“I just think we go through too much of this life without paying attention, especially to the people society so easily discards.” Dad was getting serious now.

“Well you know dad, there are only so many hours in a day!” Toby said. “We’re not going to change the world on our own!”

“That’s what I’m trying to say, son. We can’t do this on our own. We need each other. We need God. You’re going to go through a lot of searching. You’ve always been such a bright, curious kid. As you get into high school and college, you’re going to find it’s easy to forget God. I don’t want you to discard God offhand, because it’s really easy to get pulled into the lull of the world and miss an opportunity to change it instead.”

“What do you want me to do?” Toby asked, getting exasperated, “I’m thirteen! You’re laying all this responsibility on me and I can’t even drive!”

Toby’s dad was silent for a minute and then said gently, “I just want you to remember this conversation sometime. Remember that you are loved—by your mother and I, and by God. I want you to remember the love you’ve felt from us, and be able to return that to the world. I want you to create ripples that, along with all of God’s other people, change the world with love.”

Toby’s dad picked up a rock and skimmed it across the surface of the pond, and they both watched the ripples flow gently outward until they covered and changed the entire pond's surface.