Your influence travels further than you know

In 2024, Joël Lapointe was using Google Maps to plan a camping trip through a remote region of Quebec when something unusual caught his eye: a nearly perfect oval indentation in the landscape -- stretching some 15 miles across.

Lapointe wasn't a geologist, but the formation didn't look natural to him. Curious, he contacted scientists, who eventually undertook a journey into the rugged terrain to investigate the unusual formation.

What they discovered would reveal something extraordinary that had happened there hundreds of millions of years earlier.

Just what was that enormous indentation Joël Lapointe had spotted on Google Maps?

✨3 Ideas

1. We all have influence

It’s easy to wonder: What difference can an ordinary person like me really make?

Every day, we affect the people around us through what we say, how we listen, the encouragement we offer, and the example we set. Most of these interactions seem ordinary, yet each becomes part of another person’s experience.

We all leave marks on one another, often without ever realizing we’ve done so. Classic wisdom teaches a spiritual principle: Every tiny movement in the universe affects the entire universe.

2. The power of tiny things

Some migrating butterflies travel as far as 3,000 miles — an astonishing journey for something so small.

Classic wisdom teaches a second spiritual principle: Small actions can have large consequences. We see this in our relationships.

A shared smile can change the direction of a difficult day. Taking a moment to listen can remind someone that they matter. A word of support can restore someone’s confidence. We can’t measure the potential influence of an action by the size of the action itself.

3. The influence never seen

We rarely know where our influence ends. Classic wisdom offers a third spiritual principle: The reach of our actions extends far beyond our awareness of their impact.

Light leaves a star and travels through space. Years -- sometimes eons -- later, someone receives that light. So too with the people whose lives we illuminate. Values transmitted to children. The example of a grandparent. A teacher’s encouragement.

Like the light of a distant star, something of us continues onward in the lives we’ve touched. Decades later, others still carry something we gave them.

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📜2 Quotes

“Cast your bread upon the surface of the water, for you will find it after many days.”
— Ecclesiastes 11:1

“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things.”
— Bruce Barton, author

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❓1 Question

What’s one way you’ve influenced another person, a group, or your community?

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Scientists concluded that the enormous indentation Joël Lapointe had spotted on Google Maps was the site of an enormous meteor impact, dating back hundreds of millions of years. The meteor disappeared long ago. The mark it left behind remains.

So it is with us.

Our influence upon others becomes part of the lives we touch — and sometimes, part of the lives we will never know. Like the light of distant stars, what we send into the world continues long after the moment has passed.

Until next time,
Wishing you a week of sharing your light with others,

Rabbi Ze'ev Smason

P.S. What’s one small way someone has influenced -- or continues to influence your life?

P.P.S. Enjoyed this week’s Spiritual Sparks? Spiritual Sparks: A Reader offers 16 more thought-provoking stories and reflections on living with greater meaning, purpose, and joy. Take a look on —> Amazon