Mountains are broken by drips

Jana Mathia, Whitman County Gazette | Nov 05, 20200

I do not know the names of the couple that have the creamy-yellow barn. I pass it every time I come to work and every time I go home. I don’t know their names, but I do know they keep their yard well groomed, he wears a pale straw cowboy hat and they have dogs. I don’t know them, but if they are outside, I wave.

They started it. At first I thought it was a fluke, that my vehicle looked like one they knew. No. It doesn’t matter what vehicle I drove, whenever I go by, they wave.

Then it occurred to me; they are just friendly people. They wave as if to say, “hey there, neighbor,” and subscriber to the Christian belief that everyone is your neighbor.

I wasn’t sure what to do at first. I don’t know these people; is it really okay to be as presumptuous as to wave back at them?

Then came a second revelation: they wouldn’t be taking the energy to make a gesture of fellowship if they did NOT want me to wave back.

And so I do. If I see them outside, I wave. Sometimes before they do, but only because I know they will.

It makes me smile. My day is a little bit better because two people I have not yet had the chance to meet are waving pleasantly at me.

These small acts of kindness and positivity are so simple and yet powerful. They aren’t explosively powerful, but a steady powerful. Rocks can be destroyed in a moment by dynamite. Rock can also be destroyed by small drips of water. Given time, the constant drip, drip, drip of water will break through rock, just as sure as the dynamite. Both achieve the result of breaking the rock, but one is done in a peaceful way.

Riots are dynamite. They are powerful explosions that break down barriers and ideas, clearing the way for something else.

A wave is drip. So is a hug, a smile, a kind gesture. These are quiet, peaceful action, but they can also be powerful. Enough small things become a big thing.

A pseudo-stranger waving at me on my way home after a rough day of work is a small thing. When that small thing brings peace, makes me smile and changes my mood so I am happy when I get home to greet my family, it is a bigger thing. When a smile from mommy soothes hurt feelings and angry tempers and brings peace to a household, that’s an even bigger thing.

Then I go outside to check on the critters and wave to a passing vehicle. This simple act of positivity is perpetuated. If it goes on long enough, just image the changes that could be made in our towns and society.

You don’t have to do something big, loud or explosive to change the world. Keep doing little things, never stop the little drip, drip, drip, and someday you’ll find you have made a change all the same.