Little things…
Sunday, June 15th, 2008Dear Partner,
Little things… I remember my good friend Jones playing volley ball in our college court over five years ago. He probably had a heat stroke and collapsed. The college was new and had never really prepared for such emergencies so the ambulance didn’t get there on time. We lost a friend, and a dream. Little things…
Little things… The tree used to be a dead stump many years back but now it stood tall and foreboding in our compound, a threat to our house because one of its strong branches was beginning to tower right above our roof. For many years, they had let it grow knowing one day they would have to cut it down, but they did nothing. They finally cut its base and tried to use a tractor to pull the immense trunk away from the house. The tree came down on the very house they were trying to pull it away from. Thank God mum had ordered us out of our rooms. Little things…
Little things do matter, from little mistakes to little habits to the little things that make all the difference in our lives. The little Gideon’s new testament bible from his neighbor that kept Donnie from pulling the trigger in his bedroom after he blew his college grades; the $5 gift from a little girl that brought tears into the eyes of the street bum; or the simple ‘I trust you’ that kept Claire chaste and strong all through her college years. In a world driven by activities, colors and big things, little things have always made all the difference.
The truth is - a little act of kindness can change a whole life as easily as an act of ill can mar a future. It all starts with one simple and seemingly unimportant decision. It starts with one unseen action and then, like a ripple in an ocean, it begins to spread till it becomes monumental and a force to be reckoned with.
Think about the little things that have brought you to where you are. What about the gentle chiding from your late father or the tears of your praying mother that sunk your hate and juvenile tendencies. What about the friend who stood by you and reached out to you when you were shoved into the dirty gutters of life? What about the family that gave you a room, a bed and a dining table to eat on? What about a God that gives the sun a ride to the skies every morning?
Take away those seemingly routine miracles of dawn and dusk, or rain and clouds, and you will realize that those little things make up for everything we call life as we know it. Look at it this way, a ‘just checking on you’ phone call can change an evening even as a hate-mail can mar a day. A gift can bring a smile even as an evil word can bring pain. A wise word can save many generations even as an evil deed can end a future. It’s all about understanding the ripple effect of the decisions we make on a daily basis.
Today, slowly drink in the day- both the bitters and the sweets and you will realize how those little things accumulate to become forces beyond our control. Appreciate God for little beginnings like a young man hated by his brothers that eventually led him to become a prime minister; or like a savior who came as a baby to establish a relationship that has changed the world forever.
Little things- like the morning breeze, or the gentle rustling of the trees, or the little kid scrambling around the church pews, or the warm embrace, or the kind word, or the simple gift… Everything speaks of little things that matter in the end….
