An acquaintance died yesterday.
I saw him a couple of times each year for at least the past decade. We both volunteered as workers for the Farmington Community Chorus during their Spring and Winter shows. He was a nice gentlemen who did his work quietly, always was pleasant, and added to the overall value of the shows. He never received special recognition for his effort, but everyone knew that he contributed faithfully and well.
We started receiving calls about his death from various chorus members and it became obvious that it was important to them that everyone in the chorus should know about his death and be available to show their support to his wife at the funeral.
Why bring this up?
In a world of 6 or 7 billion people, the life of one person seems a little insignificant... not unimportant, but a very small part of the picture. We all will die, sooner or later, so we accept that the world will go on despite each death that occurs. But that is not the point. The point is that each of us has some impact on the future of mankind. It may be small or it may be dramatic. But we have the potential to make things better or worse for people not yet born.
This man did many things in his life. I'm only writing about one small aspect of it. Yet it is obvious that he touched people enough that a community mourns his loss. So it is reasonable to say that he added to the community and potentially its future well-being, if this aspect of his life reflected the overall person he was.
A wave in the ocean may not change the ocean. But it may contribute to changing the shoreline. Likewise, each one of us may not individually change mankind, but we may, individually, help change the boundaries of mankind.
