Tiny Things

My favorite moment of the Oscars this year was when Lady Gaga sang. In a subdued black tee shirt and jeans, wearing no make up she  quietly began to sing. In that moment goose bumps went up and down my arms.   I guess you would say that my response was one of awe.   I was mesmerized.   As I thought about it later, I wondered at my reaction,  and then it occurred to me.   

Lady Gaga is the full embodiment of her purpose on earth.  

I think it’s easy these days for most of us to feel small and perhaps insignificant.  We get up each day and go about our business.  Sometimes it’s boring and routine.   Sometimes it’s a bit more interesting, but most of the time it feels small.  

Jesus spoke a lot about small things.   He taught in various ways that small things are really big things.   A tiny tiny mustard seed grows into a big tree.  A tiny grain of salt gives flavor to the whole dish.  One candle can light up a whole dark space.  One tiny bit of leaven leavens a whole loaf of bread.  

At one time Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”  He did not say that you should be the light of the world.  He said, “You ARE the light of the world”.   

Think about that for a bit.  A light can show us the way home.  A light can help us avoid danger and pitfalls.   A light can inform us and dispel darkness.  Being a light is not a small thing.  Being a light is Divine, and when we are the light we embody the Divine on earth. 

I often despair that my “little” things don’t make much difference.  When I consider the overwhelming darkness of injustice and inequity in the world my little bit seems so insignificant.  

What does it look like to be light in these days?   I think, simply put, that being light is being the heart of God wherever we are.   It is showing extraordinary interest in the clerk at the grocery store.  It is taking time to send a text to someone you know is hurting.  It is knowing your neighbor is sick and taking the time to make nutritious food to drop off for them.  It is a mom that nurtures her children.  It is refusing to be part of a business deal that is shady.  It is refusing to react in anger at the other political side.  It is generosity.  It is patience.  It is kindness.  It’s a dad or mom who work hard all day and then come home to play with their kids.  It is little tiny stuff.  AND it matters.  

One time a huge crowd had followed Jesus to hear Him teach.  It was getting near dinner time, and people were hungry.  They were far from town or anyplace to buy food.   The disciples immediately looked at their own resources and quickly determined that the money they had would never feed such a big crowd. Then a little boy came to Jesus.  He had packed his lunch of five little rolls and 2 tiny  sardines.  He presented his meager little tiny lunch to Jesus.  Jesus prayed and thanked God. Then the boy’s lunch was multiplied to feed over 5,000 people with baskets-full left over.   The little boy gave his little bit to God who made it big enough for everyone.

Another story Jesus told was of a man who was traveling the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.   Robbers set upon him and took all his money, stripped him naked, beat him and left him for dead.   Down the road came a Levite and then a Jewish priest traveling the same road. They saw the man. I’m sure the man who had been beaten was a mess.  They did not seem to want to dirty their hands or stop to help. So they walked around him and went on their way.  Then a man from Samaria (they were hated by the Jews), saw the man lying there destitute and bleeding.  He stopped and bandaged him up. He poured expensive oil and wine on his wounds.   Then he loaded him on his own donkey.  He took him to an innkeeper and gave the proprietor money to nurse the man back to health.  And then he went on his way.  Who knows if the innkeeper used all the money to care for the man.  Who knows what became of that man.  The Samaritan went on his way not knowing if what he did mattered at all.   

In each case what seemed small was big and it did matter.  We don’t need to be rich or powerful.  We don’t need to be educated or have important jobs.  We do need to get up each day knowing that we are given the most important job in the world.  We have the chance many times a day to be the heart of God right where we are. 

So, we may not be able to sing like Lady Gaga but when we choose to be tiny lights in this dark dark world, we are the embodiment of our purpose on the planet.  

 We are the embodiment of the Divine heart of love.