Just the Little Things

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Frequently we feel that the little things don't matter. They tell us not to sweat the small stuff and then tell us that it's all small stuff. However, that's a knife that cuts both ways depending on the tale you desire to tell. This Saturday, we were discussing in class what actually constitutes an infection, about what a microbial quorum is, and about how many infectious microbes it takes to ultimately kill a man.

I told my students that their immune system is actually the last line of defense. By the time you manifest symptoms, the infection is already established and widespread. Within 24 hours, a single microbe can multiply into millions. Truly, Mr. Miyagi was right when he taught us that the best way to avoid a fight was to not be there. Similarly, I told my students the following couplet: "All the water in the world no matter how it tried Could never sink the smallest ship unless it got inside." When microbes penetrate you, little things make big differences.

Sometimes little things in our lives, like a virus, will fester. They hide themselves in our cells, in our memories, and then express themselves when we are weak or tired or bored. As they fester, they wear away at our tissues, sap our strength, and fill us with damnable puss and mucus that keep us from moving forward and retard our growth.

Yes, little things can be a big deal. They do not need to be. There are things available to us to help us purge little things from our bodies and minds just as the immune system purges us from invading microbes that lodge inside our DNA and memories. Only if we let ourselves be healed can we really move on; otherwise, we run the risk of reinfection and return to a state of general disease.

Just as small problems can grow, small triumphs and habits that are good can too. Daily prayer, regular service, patience, gratitude, and other characteristics can start small until they make great things happen. This kind of small stuff also matters, but in this case it is small stuff that we desire to nurture, water, and encourage until it blossoms and grows fruit in our lives. Only when we plant small good things in our lives can we rely on a steady supply of good fruits from mighty trees of character.

Almost 2000 years ago, on a small mountain in a distant desert city, a man of no reputation or wealth or influence walked into a garden. There, he lay down to suffer for our sins that we might not suffer if we would repent and reconcile ourselves to God. The following day at Golgotha, he suffered an ignominious death. His hope is that we will not let little things become big things that ought to be removed and that we will cultivate the little things that are good until they become part of who we are.

Today, 'twas just the little things. What we nurture today will grow tomorrow. What grows into a bigger part of you depends largely on what you decide to remove and what you decide to encourage. Little things either break men or make great ones. That choice is up to you.