Littleness

Littleness. A theme that has been coming up a lot lately. It is so contrary to what we learn growing up, but I am more and more convinced that it is the way of God. After all, the God of the universe became a baby, grew up in a poor town, humbly taught the people, and died on a cross. When we stop and think about that, it should probably blow our minds. And little seems to be the only way to live here. Daily we rise, we pray, we serve, we pray some more, we rest. We try to make a small difference for those who cross our path. The problems of this neighborhood and world are so big that if we look at the big picture, we become discouraged extraordinarily easily. It is like the story of the boy and the starfish.

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?" The youth replied, "Throwing starfish back into the ocean.  The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they'll die." "Son," the man said, "don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't make a difference!" After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, "I made a difference for that one."

Like yesterday, I got into a random conversation with a fellow volunteer tutoring the kids. I think she just needed to talk because she told me her life story and all her difficulties. I just listened and nodded. I may not have changed the entire world, but I hope I helped her. Mother Theresa also exemplidied this. We showed a video about her to a group of young adult leaders from one of the parishes. She was so little and humble in her service to the poor and God used her for incedible things.

Yes, littleness seems to me to be somehow, contrary to reason, necessary to be a missionary.