Growing up idolizing Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians and inspired by the greatest rock and roll ever written (Beatles forever!), like any young person, I hoped to make my mark on the world in a memorable way.
I would be a journalist, a writer, a teacher, a lawyer (if not a judge!), and later in life maybe I’d go into politics and make laws and stuff. Something big.
Well as you know, that’s all changed. I’m a priest who says your morning mass, hears your confession, and visits you in the hospital. Simple, but there’s a life there. (I smile at the headlines on People Magazine as I wait to check out at the grocery . . . “Be Your Passion”, “Don’t Let Anyone Stand in the Way”, “You Can be Anything You Dream”.)
Well dreams are good. They can light a fire in us. But most often we have to settle for less than we hoped for. Life comes in and best laid plans get put on hold – – – elderly parents need special care, money just isn’t there to support the dream, or . . . we find we just don’t have what it takes to do it right.
So what do we do? It’s a critical moment really. Some people can be embittered at life not turning out how they had imagined. Some people think that Plan B (or C or D!) for their life is second or third best. Sadness or disillusion can follow. We’ve all experienced it.
But there’s some help here from the Gospel. Jesus tells the story of The Ten Gold Coins. (Lk 19: 11-19. Read it!) In it three servants are charged with different amounts of money to watch over during the master’s absence. When he returns, he calls them one by one to see what they’ve done with the money.
Two of them had increased their master’s holdings and were equally praised for what they’d done. The third did nothing. He buried the little money he’d been given and handed it back to the master.
The point is, God doesn’t care how big the return on his investment is. What He wants is that we try. “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones.” Lk 16:10. God will increase our own faithfulness in the “small things”.
Let me give you an example. I stopped into a store to get a piece of foam rubber (I’m making rubber duckies for Fr. John’s Christmas present).
The young salesperson was there to help me find just the right piece. He crawled over shelf after shelf to find what we were looking for. Finally we got it – – but it needed cutting. “I can do that. No problem.” He said.
Cutting the foam rubber required a band saw which he carefully lined up. As the cut was almost through, the band jumped forward and nicked his hand drawing a little blood. I was mortified. “I’m sooo sorry”, I said. Washing his hand and putting a bandaid on his hand he said, “Don’t worry it’s just a little nick.” He smiled as he wrote up the order and handed me my foam rubber.
Simple, eh? No big woop. But something was visible in that young man that touched me. It was his simple kindness and desire to help. He wanted no praise and my going on about his great service only embarrassed him. I wrote his manager to tell him what a prince he had in the Foam Department.
That’s how it is with the “little things” – – – they mean a lot.
Let’s do the little things just right. God will help us when the big things come around.
Bless you.
Fr. Tim
