It’s time to get real.
For the last couple of months, I’ve talked about and tried to change my life of consumption. To be more socially responsible. To share more. Buy less. To be aware of what I do buy.
It’s been good, and necessary, and was a suitable place to start on this journey of becoming an ordinary radical. But really, it’s barely the tip of the iceberg.
“I’m just not convinced that Jesus is going to say, ‘When I was hungry, you gave a cheque to the United Way and they fed me,’ or, ‘When I was naked, you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me,'” writes Shane Claiborne in The Irresistible Revolution (the inspiration for this column). “Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He seeks concrete acts of love: ‘you fed me … you visited me in prison … you welcomed me into your home … you clothed me.'”
Ouch.
To help Claiborne remember this call, he has a message posted at his front entryway: “Today, small things with great love … or don’t open the door.”
The words are inspired by Mother Teresa, whom Claiborne met and worked alongside for 10 weeks in India. “Mama T” as he calls her, spoke of the little things; how these little things are really all we can do—but that they can make a huge impact when done “with great love.”
Do I consciously think of this call every morning? When I’m rushing the kids out to school and daycare, when I’m thinking about all the things I have to do for work and for the rest of my day, do I even consider doing “small things with great love?”
So how do I shift my focus? To break out of my I’m – too – busy bubble and really think about others and what they might be facing that day?
Step one: Post “Mama T’s” words at my front door so I will see them and remember them.
Step two: Figure out how the heck I can practice these “small things” (in preparation for bigger things!) in all I do.
Step three: Focus on and figure out the “love” aspect—these aren’t just nice little things to do because it makes us feel good. That misses the point. We are called to act in love; to let our love for our neighbour (and even our enemies) colour and influence and drive all we do.
Does this mean something as simple as putting on a pair of skates and heading onto the ice with my daughter because I can see how desperately she wants me to join her? (I can’t skate, by the way.) Does it mean shutting my mouth when the spouse leaves a mess in the kitchen after a hard day, and instead telling him I’ll put the kids to bed while he watches TV? Does it mean paying for the coffee of the person behind me in the drive – thru?
Sure.
But I think it should also mean finding ways to reach beyond our comfort zone—to find things that build community; that tell someone you don’t necessarily know (or might not even like!), “you’re not alone.”
When my youngest daughter was just an infant, I was at the grocery store checkout. She was in her car seat, in the grocery cart, screaming as though she were wrapped in sandpaper and hadn’t had a meal in days. I tried to pack my rather large order as quickly as I could; all too conscious of the staring eyes around me. And then it happened. A small thing with—what I can only guess was—great love. A woman (not a store employee, I might add) offered to bag my groceries, calmly urging me to pick up my baby instead. Of course, as soon as my babe was in my arms, her screams stopped. And that woman bagged my groceries.
I remember walking out of that store completely in awe of what that woman had done. Was it earth shattering? No. Did it end world hunger? Cause world peace? (Well, it certainly brought peace back to that grocery store!) But no; it was a small act, born out of an ability to see the need of a neighbour, and to act to fulfill it. In that one offer of help, she let me know that I was not alone. That I was part of a community where at least one person cared enough to lend a helping hand.
“We are the body of Christ, not in some figurative sense, but we are the flesh and blood of Jesus alive in the world through the Holy Spirit—God’s hands, feet, ears,” writes Claiborne.
“Today, small things with great love … or don’t open the door.”
Read all of Amy MacLachlan’s Ordinary Radical blog posts here.
