Ripples

Ripples
Written for 100th Anniversary of Grandpa Orson Leroy Hollist’s birth.

A single pebble thrown
Into a smooth lake
Will cause a ring of ripples
To spread out.

Some ripples quickly comes
Back to you on shore.
Others will go on until
You don’t know where they go.
And you can’t see them anymore.

Many years ago, in the 1940s, when my dad
Was but a lad
In a place that my father, uncles,
and aunts all adore
For they ran in wild kid-packs
is the family lore.
Brigham City, Utah just in case
You wanted to know where this
story started to take place.

Grandpa was in the bishopric then.
(The same as an assistant pastor
in other churches I would imagine.)
He took some time away from his family duties,
And other church responsibilities
To spend time with a youth
who needed some help in life
And to gain a testimony of Christ.

This young Jensen boy was ever grateful
for Grandpa’s helping hand.
For he found the faith and testimony
he needed: to better his life,
To grow up to be a good man,
And became a good husband to his wife.

In a home where the spirit dwelt therein,
Together the Jensens raised their children,
They taught: responsibility, hard work
Sacrifice and in helping others to better their life.
Especially those who might be going
through turmoil or strife.

The story next picks up in Tokyo,
‘twas the fall of 1989
I went to church where some good friends I did find.
Chris and Rebecca Jensen were their names.
Yes, the last name is the same
I think it was part of God’s plan
For me to meet the son of the Jensen boy,
who grew up to be a good man.

As a new fledging trying to take flight
Though I was trying with all my might
I was having a hard time molting my college down.
The more I struggled the stronger I was bound.

Alone in this pivotal time, Chris took me under his wing
And metaphorically taught me how to sing.
Chris showed me by word and deed
How to be: a father, a husband,
and a man the world would need.
Most of these lessons were not new to me,
I had first learn them while sitting at my father’s knee.

Chris just helped me liberate
These lessons from their dungeon cells.
That they might: crystallize, coagulate,
Coalesce, solidify, and really jell.
By transforming them from something I knew
Into something that I do.

There was a hole in my education that needed filling.
Chris taught me the rules of proper gift giving.
That is the gifts you give to your spouse
And still live in a peaceful and happy house.

Since this page is quickly running out of space
I will share them at another time and place,
And they are not a true part of this story I now tell,
But I have followed them and they have served me well.

So thank you Chris, Rebecca and the whole Jensen clan,
And all those who through the years gave me a helping hand.
Thank you Grandpa Hollist, though on earth we never meet,
Through others your presence has been felt, wherever I went.

Cast your pebbles of goodness out onto the lake.
And do it for no other reason then for goodness sake.
Don't be concerned if you do not know
Where or how far the ripples will go.

For out into time and space they will spread
Going on and on long after you are dead.
By God’s tender mercy and letting His love show
Maybe onto a distant shore they will go,
To lap on your posterity’s feet,
And thus making this circle of love complete.

27 September 2007
Larry T. Hollist