"Persistence of Time"

    There is a Greek Orthodox cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine that is thought to be one of the oldest cathedrals in all of Europe.  As I entered through the massive oak doors I could not help be moved by the enormity of the structure.  Stones that had been laid in place well over a thousand years ago.  There were paintings of knights receiving a blessing before going into battle and one of the baptism of Christ, oddly enough he was standing in a barrel not the Jordan, and many more that adorned the walls and ascended to a height that made them impossible to see from the ground floor.  On the main floor, there were coffins of the priest that had served there over the centuries.  But the one thing that caught my attention that I remember more clearly then the paintings, coffins, or gold covered icons was the floor.  The granite floor, there from the door that I had entered to a small door in the front was a path.  A well-worn path.  It was easily noticeable.  How many steps must be taken on a granite floor to wear a path into the stone?  Century upon century each step taking away an immeasurable amount of the stone itself.  Each person not knowing how the accumulated wear would be seen in ages to come.  You, this day have an opportunity to make a difference.  We often think that the immeasurable amount that we do will accomplish little, yet it is the persistence that smooths the stone not the power that it is delivered with.  Recently my granddaughter, that is less than one year old, laid her head on my shoulder and patted me on the back.  Those of you that have received such a pat know the feeling that I had.  She did so because she has a mother and father that patted her on the back.  They come from parents that patted them on the back and their parents patted them.  Generations ago someone did not pat a little baby on the back for my benefit but I receive the reward of it.  I do not know what you will do this day that will extend through time but something will.  Say a kind word, give a pat on the back, greet someone with a smile.  The effect may be felt in ages to come.