Reflect

You may be familiar with “the butterfly effect” — the idea that a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can lead to a typhoon in another. It was originally put forth by an MIT scientist to explain the cumulative, dramatic effects of microscopic data shifts in overall weather prediction. What if it works the same way with forgiveness and reconciliation? What if our individual acts of reconciliation and renewal are the obligatory seeds of global peace? Choctaw Elder and Episcopal Bishop Steven Charleston writes, “Our lives are entrusted to us for a purpose. It is not always an easy or glamorous job, but it is the vital work of restoration, reconciliation, and renewal that must be done, and done on the run in the face of rapid changes.” The world is changing quickly, and our lives are brief in the scheme of things. But today, in this moment, we have the chance to restore, reconcile, and renew one relationship and one community at a time. Perhaps it will be exactly the flapping butterfly wing the world is waiting for.