Like a stone dropped into a pond, with the ripples emanating out and affecting the entire pond, our lives sometimes can cause ripples or even be influenced by the ripples caused by others.
The other day my wife and I had dinner with a long time friend who actually married us 36 years ago, and has created countless ripples in his life. Father Tom McKillop, a few years ago, received the Order of Canada.
At the actual ceremony, it was noted that “Father Thomas McKillop has been a major force in promoting ecumenism, responsibility and social engagement amongst Canada's youth. In 1966 he co-founded Youth Corps, a movement welcoming young people of all faiths. He was determined to give young people a sense of direction, bringing them together to help the most vulnerable members of society and also to reflect on the world surrounding them. Now retired, he remains a source of inspiration, whose achievements have had life-changing effects on many people.”

It was Father Tom who recognized the significant achievements of people such as Mother Teresa, Viktor Frankl (Man's Search for Meaning), Jean Vanier, John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me) and others, before they became well-known throughout the world. Tom brought each to Toronto's Massey Hall to speak and to be a role model to youth of all faiths. I think our youth of today, and indeed, all of us, could never have too many wholesome role models.
Father Tom had an interesting background. He never intended to be a priest and was actually a pitching prospect with the Cleveland Indians organization. When he realized his baseball aspirations would be limited, he turned to the priesthood, but he had one large problem to overcome. Tommy McKillop had a stuttering problem. The first order of priests he approached, pointed out that a priest with a stutter, was not an ideal candidate for the life he sought. Undaunted, Tommy McKillop was finally ordained as a parish priest in his hometown of Toronto. The rest, as they say, is history.
Tom has had an alarming effect on many, but let me give you but one small example. Bill Rutledge was a man in his 50’s who for many years had been the large appliance buyer for Simpson-Sears. This meant he chose the appliances that you and I might eventually buy.

In 1973, with the encouragement of his friend, Father Tom, Bill resigned his job at Simpsons and became involved in the planning and creation of St. Michael's Detox Centre. There was a short period when he was without a salary. The need for a halfway house, as a follow-up to the detox program, soon became evident. So in 1976 St. Michael's House on Rushholme Road opened with Bill Rutledge as its first director. Later, Bill was influential in starting up at least two more halfway houses.
40 or so years ago I first drove to Oshawa, at the urging of Father Tom, to pick up a 'speaker' for an event. Years before, Danny Lypka had been looking at a home to purchase with his fiancé, and unfortunately was in a tragic car accident. His fiancé was killed and Danny was made a paraplegic but nevertheless went on to influence countless people with his words of hope. I am sure there are many readers who will remember Danny Lypka.
In this life we never know who we have affected. One of my elementary students, eventually became the head of Sports Medicine at Sunnybrook Hospital. Dr. Julia Alleyne, later thanked me for encouraging her to get involved in sports. How many in turn has Dr. Julia inspired?
Who has inspired you? Perhaps you could write a guest column on them, as
regretfully, this will be my last column for a few months. I will soon be announcing my candidacy for Catholic School Trustee for Oshawa.
As always you can contact me at BillFoxExpress@hotmail.com