Interconnecteness, living like a book, and ridiculously varying opportunities

Well, this will be a long one because a lot of thoughts and ideas have been perculating in my head since I last wrote, many spurred on by intellectual chit-chat with friends. My first theme is the interconnectedness we all share. In breif, the domino effect. To elaborate on this here idea, what I'm talking about is how our actions-good and bad-affect people we won't even meet. We'll start with the good action of greeting a stranger in a coffee shop with a friendly "Howdy." That person will smile at a stranger in turn, and they may even be a nicer person to work with at the office that day, all because of your "Howdy." You just might affect the whole day of a bunch of office workers who you don't know. "One good turn deserves another." Unfortunately, not all turn are good. Some actions are bad-even downright sinful. That's where it gets ugly. I think we all know just too well how the impatience and grumpiness of one person can rub off on us, and before you know it, there we are, being impatient and grumpy. As I can personally attest to in an incident that happened this very day, this can occur instantaneously-"in the twinkling of an eye." As individuals, we have no idea how much power we weild, and how much influence we have-consciously or not-over others. My second big thought also has to do with other people, socially, and what we do for eachother. There is much difference of opinion on the Biblical definition of fellowship. I am no teacher or scholar, and make no such pretense. I do, however, view any time shared with fellow Christians as fellowship, because every minute spent with other believers is another minute that will cause me to consider those who will be affected by my actions and choices. And considering those people, I'll realize how much I would hate to hurt or disappoint them, which will affect my actions and choices for the good of all and the glory of God. The last thing I will write about tonight is the extreme oddity that I just came from the home of a good friend, who was throwing a shindig to celebrate the success of his band, Godspeed (which may be re-named Third Heaven soon). It was just so . . . different from my life. I stay home a lot, read a lot, walk my dog, generally lead a pretty quiet life, but my husband has been helping our good friend edit and master the promotional DVD for their band. And so I found myself at a party celebrating the success of this band, with all the band members and their wives and kids, and great Mexican food. And fellowship. A really, really good time of fellowship, wherein I found the Biblical basis for the name "Third Heaven."