There is something called "The Butterfly Effect" which is the idea that the flap of one butterfly's wings can alter weather patterns across the globe.
This is a great metaphor for the effect that all of us can have in the world through our small acts of kindess and volunteerism.
I was the coordinator for a program called Mother to Mother. It was a mentoring program for mothers who were often young, single, struggling financially, and/or from abusive relationships. I paired these mothers up with another more experienced mother who I had trained as a mentor. The change in these "Partner Mothers" was often dramatic. They learned to trust and found out healthy ways of parenting that they had not experienced in their own childhood. They grew to feel empowered and several of the mothers went back to school to get training in massage therapy or in the medical field so that they could get off public assistance and be self-sufficient. This all came as a result of another mother giving four to six hours a month to be a listening ear and a person who did not judge but rather encouraged another woman who had felt discouraged and without hope.
Churches today need to find a way to serve the greater community. Our church in Hollywood, Florida opened its heart to the homeless. A woman who had only been attending the church for a short time, shared with the congregation one Sunday that she had been homeless herself, living out of her car. She wanted to start a project of putting together packets of personal hygiene products for the homeless in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. She contacted various companies and was able to obtain donations of various products such as soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Then on Saturday mornings, volunteers from the congregation got together and assembled the care packets along with a copy of Unity "Prayer for Protection". Over 1,000 packets were distributed to the homeless.
Programs such as the one for the homeless at Unity of Hollywood and the mentoring program of Mother to Mother have the ability to produce a butterfly effect in the world. Each act of kindness sends out an energy of love and compassion that can't help but spread, creating more love and kindness effecting the overall energy and vibration of the world at large.
What are you doing to have a "butterfly effect" in the world? What is your part to play in changing the consciousness of this planet? Listen to your heart and then spread your wings and fly.
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