The Place of Small Things

        You can't miss it when you drive by. There's Berdoll Pecan Candy and there is a 14.5 foot squirrel statue. They say everything's bigger in Texas and the residents are justly proud of their penchant for the large and awesome: big hair, big BBQ grills, big cowboy hats, big stadiums and big hearts. Yet lately, I've been contemplating the essential nature of  small things.

     Turning over the garden soil you see all kings of earthworms. I work around them gently and send them on their way. Earthworms breakdown dead plant materials and produce on the spot fertilizer. Their tunnels channel  air and water to roots. Tiny frogs eat pesky insects and provide food for larger birds. The tiny hummingbird spreads pollen as it flits from flower to flower sipping nectar. Energetic squirrels harvest many nuts but only retrieve a portion. Unclaimed nuts help repopulate the forest. All these little creatures work together in a bigger ecosystem. The same can be said for the little words and gestures that we put out into our world everyday.

     St Therese of  Lisieux, known as The Little Flower, wrote extensively on the beauty of little things.  She  is known for her spirituality or "little way."  She said, " Miss no opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love." She saw the world as the Lord's garden. She saw herself as a simple, little wildflower unnoticed by the world but giving glory to God in her own way. She felt that just as all flowers had their own beauty, each soul had its own role and beauty. To her, the whiteness of the lily and the splendor of the rose "do not take away the perfume of the violet or the simplicity of the daisy."

     The little way is all around us even in a modern world:  The grocery clerk who always blesses his customers; The barista who acknowledges customers in a long line; Fellow plant lovers chatting at the nursery; A stranger giving up his seat; The nurse rocking a lonely, sick baby; A child's painting hanging proudly on the refrigerator; The wife preparing healthy food for her ailing husband; A little boy bringing ginger ale to a sick mommy; The husband filling his wife's car with gas; A young soldier sharing water on a long hike.
      Small gestures illuminate the ecosystem of  humanity's heart. No thoughtfulness is too small. There is no tiny miracle. There is no insignificant kindness. Our task is to simply see what is in front of us and make our little corner of the world just a little better.