Where the Trembling Stops

In preparation for speaking Sunday night on Thomas a Kempis' notable work, "The Imitation of Christ," I referred to various commentaries for insight on 1 Peter 2:21, one of which is a tattered old set of Lange's Commentary that was printed in 1901. Holding in one hand something written more than 600 years ago and in the other another book printed a hundred years ago, I couldn't help but wonder if anything I've done, said, or written will last a day beyond my lifetime, much less hundreds of years. What will be my enduring influence? Will I leave any at all? Lingering impact is measured best not by programs initiated, buildings constructed, or institutions established. Instead, what endures is inspiration. It may transpire as I read your words, or it may settle deep as I remember something you said or did. I may have known you, or I may only read something that was a part of you, but if you inspire me to think and live better, you endure. I close every email with a favorite quote from Frederick Buechner, with the hope that it will prompt others and myself to think through both the strength and fragility of one life lived in concert or in conflict with others: "The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt."