One of the best movies of all time is “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In the movie, George Bailey is feeling depressed and worthless. He wishes he was never born and his wish is granted. The gift he gets is seeing all of the ways his life impacted those he came in contact with and how different the world would have been without him in it.
I might as well also mention one of my favorite TV shows from the 90’s called “Quantum Leap”. In it, Dr. Sam Beckett is a time traveler who “leaps” into other people’s lives and helps them fix a problem they are currently dealing with or will deal with. In the final episode, he meets a bartender who is a portrayed as a godlike character. Sam really wants to go home and tells the bartender that he has only been able to help a small amount of people through all of his travels. The bartender rebukes him and says that the lives Sam touched have touched others, and those lives others.
We too may look at our own lives and think we are failures or haven’t made a bit of difference in the world. However, at the final judgment, we will be able to see how all of our decisions have impacted others. We are constantly scattering seeds as we go through our life. When we acknowledge our neighbor and are kind to them, we scatter a seed. When we show respect for God and love for God through our words and actions, we scatter a seed. When we put someone else’s need above our own need, we scatter a seed. These seeds land in other people’s lives and some of them may take hold and grow. The person with the germinated seed may have their life changed for the better in a dramatic way.
The wealthy people in the world usually understand the concept of compound interest. In our quest for spiritual wealth, we should also try to understand how one small good deed can snowball into a large one. If we want to be spiritually rich, we need to start investing in God and others. The best way to guarantee that we will not get spiritually wealthy is by doing nothing.
Life isn’t easy for anyone, but some people really need the seeds of love to fly their way and brighten their life. Let us all continue to spread those seeds throughout the world and try to pay attention to those people who are most in need. We should also be welcoming and open to the seeds that fly our way, so that they may take hold easier. The world is a beautiful place when everyone spreads the seeds of love.
