Little Things Mean A Lot

This is a guest blog by my dear friend, Rev. Jerry Dobberfuhl. He writes his own blog several times each week @ http://gpdobberfuhl.blogspot.com

Luther’s morning prayer from the small Catechism:

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

I stepped out for today's walk into that nice, cool, rain-washed air and really enjoyed the twittering of the birds and the day’s beginning. What blessings are mine, I thought.

Are you in the habit of starting your day with prayer? It does make the day seem less intimidating, for it reminds us again that we are God’s children.

Funny, isn’t it, how a little thing have large effects. The planes couldn’t fly, because there was ash in the sky. Little things like ash can destroy a jet engine, so plans of government heads to attend the Polish President’s funeral were on hold.

Or consider other little things that disrupt the workings of men. One company that placed those large wind propellers to create electricity found they had to scrub them now and then because bugs and small flying insects were plastered on them and decreased their efficiency. Little things.

Or such things as termites. Oh, you don’t have to deal with them? Wonderful. They sneak into woodwork and spend their days eating. When they do infest a place, often major repairs need to be done to undo their destruction, yet they are so small one can barely see them with the naked eye.

Little things. But we tend to compromise, get used to them, or live with the result.

In our backyard, a one-eyed squirrel comes now and then to check the yard for food. I know this one has only one eye because he comes up to the glass door and looks in. But I notice he has compensated quite well, runs up a tree and jumps from limb to limb like any other.

The squirrel has no other choice, but that can really be a problem for us. People tend to compromise, or get used to bad things, or failings, and finally get so used to them they don’t even notice them any more.

The Houston Chronicle reported on a family with ten sons, the youngest now sixteen. The mother wrote a book about raising successful sons, and the heart of her writing  was that you care, you love, you tend to—and daily insist. You can’t wait till they are twelve and then say one morning, “Now you are responsible." Instead, the children had chores, making their beds, keeping their rooms clean,  setting the dinner table, washing dishes, even doing laundry and mowing lawns. The parents simply took for granted that each did the chore assigned. Just common sense: seeing to the little things, not letting them go.

In our life, little things left unchecked lead to big things, small sins to larger sins; what starts as harmless ends up destroying. In the Bible, Romans 1:18-32 lays out the result. It makes one shiver to read those words. Perhaps I will have more to say on this the next time we meet. Meanwhile, may God keep you in His care..