On Easter Sunday we attended the early service before meeting my inlaws for brunch. While the service was fairly predictable (we Methodists have a penchant for brass quartets and “Easter People Raise Your Voices”), the pastor had a twist on his sermon. He talked about the triumph over the grave and Resurrection as per usual. Then he said, the Resurrection is an illustration of how one’s choices are eternal. Intrigued, I listened as he offered examples. It isn’t that our actual time and resources are eternal (because they are most definitely finite), but the how and who and what we spend our time and resources on are opportunities for eternal impact. Our choices are eternal.

I like this idea very much. I am an educator after all. I have to believe in some small way I will impact the trajectory of a life forever. That is why I do what I do. I may not live to see my efforts come to fruition. I may never see my student again. My student may never remember me. But! If one decision is made based on something I said, or something I taught, that alters the life of my student and their family’s life and their future life for good, then that is a moment of eternal impact. Their future is forever changed.

Not to overstate or add a heavy burden to my already tired dinnertime decision-making, but how my family eats impacts our lifestyle and our health. Whether we have fried chicken or grilled salmon tonight is irrelevant, but the extent to which our resources are spent on food and types of food impact everything from our child’s acne to the cost of our healthcare.

This decision-making power leads me to thoughts about the decision-making power of others—which leads to questions about access to quality food, support for farmers, and our obligation as humans to feed those with food insecurity. If you have ever worked at a food bank sorting food, even one time, it will change the way you donate food to food pantries. You’ll make sure your canned goods have poptops instead of requiring a can opener. You’ll think about donating food you would eat rather than food you don’t want. You’ll include powdered or boxed milk with cereal and or macncheese because you know neither are helpful to have without milk. Your decision of what and how you donate is eternal.

Think about your decisions, just basic ones, and how the smile to a stranger, the good morning to a colleague, the giving up your seat on the subway—-all impact another person in a positive way. Little drops make ripples. Ripples make waves. Waves change the landscape of the earth. Eternity.

I hope this idea of opportunity for “eternal change” changes how I make decisions from now until the end. Your choices are eternal. Make good ones friends.

Love y’all, Marla