Your Impact Part 7
April 24, 2025
Your Impact Part 7
Sometimes, things do not have to be loud, mammoth, or forceful to be impactful. The most impactful people or experiences can be subtle, soft, numinous. Instead of shouting at us, they whisper us into transformation.
When I was 19 and far from home on a construction crew, I faced one of my first crises. It was out of my hands, but the outcome would have affected me significantly. I had no idea what to do, and my anxiety increased daily.
I was scared. Actually, it was my ego who was scared, but then, I did not know that we are not our egos.
One day, when my anxiety was raging, the woods pulled me into it like a magnet and I left the construction site. I found a small clearing deep in the forest and felt something peaceful there. It was a very still, hot summer’s day. The trees seemed to form a room, a chapel of sorts.
I looked down, and in front of me was a patch of bright green moss which looked like a kneeler. I dropped to my knees and prayed.
“Show me a sign that all will be OK,” I said from the bottom of my heart. I remained in place. The stillness and silence were deafening. Then, suddenly the small tree a few feet in front of me lit up with a breeze, its limping leaves enlivened by the winds as their silver undersides flickered in the sun. No other foliage or trees had any winds in them. The breeze in the tree lasted a long time. With this event, I knew the message that was being sent to me. And I emerged with assurance in my soul.
At age 39 in another situation out of my hands, I made my way to that same forest. It was another hot, still day. I knelt in the same place and said my prayer. I waited for a tree to light up again with a breeze as it did twenty years before. It didn’t happen.
I waited, and just as I was about to leave in disappointment, out of the hot stillness, a breeze came.
But instead of lighting up the tree, the wind blew over me. It lasted a long time.
And I knew the message being sent. Once again, because of a light, cool breeze, I emerged from that place with assurance in my soul. The breeze whispered, “I am even closer than you know.”
Self-inquiry: What gentleness impacted you greatly?
Dear God,
For your lightness of touch, I am so thankful. Amen
