In his book The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne argues that “we live in a world that has lost its appreciation for small things. … We want to supersize our fries, sodas and church buildings. But amid all the supersizing, many of us feel God doing something new, something small and subtle … a gentle whisper amid the chaos. … Little movements of communities of ordinary radicals are committed to doing small things with great love.”
It is this love that motivates our actions; that propels us to somehow help change the things we see as wrong or unjust. It is God’s love for us that enables us to act. And it is small, because, in the end, for most of us, that’s all we can do.
I’m still trying to figure out exactly what all of this means for me and my family; how it will and should impact our daily tasks and interactions. To aid me in my musings, I asked some of my fellow Record bloggers to share their thoughts on what “small things with great love” means to them. (Keep an eye on my blog for more!)
Rev. Matthew Ruttan told me about cultivating love through continual prayer; even prayer about the small things: “Thank you, Lord, for my daughter blowing me a kiss!”
Patricia Schneider, who lost her husband several years ago, told me, “the kindest thing someone can do for me is to mention my husband by name. It warms my heart to know that he is not forgotten.”
Pat also mentioned something else: “One of the nicest things that someone did for me was to ask for an afternoon to come over and review some of the things I had said at our Bible study. It was an opportunity to share personally, one – to – one, about my beliefs.”
I love that this is something that stands out for Pat as a “small thing with great love.” Being able to “share personally, one to one” is a crucial ingredient to building community, and as Claiborne would say, to affect change.
When we meet each other face to face, when we really get to know someone, learn of their struggles, hear about their lives, and know their names, then we become discontent with whatever is keeping them down.
“It is a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but become genuine friends with whom we laugh, cry, dream and struggle,” Claiborne writes. “One of the verses I have grown to love is the one where Jesus is preparing to leave the disciples and says, ‘I no longer call you servants. … Instead, I call you friends.’ Servanthood is a fine place to begin, but gradually we move toward mutual love, genuine relationships.”
“Once we are actually friends with folks in struggle,” he continues, “we start to ask why people are poor, which is never as popular as giving to charity.”
Last Christmas, my book club took on a little project to help make the first couple weeks easier for a single mom (let’s call her Catherine) who had just had her fourth baby. We baked cookies, made dinners to freeze then pop in the oven, knitted blankets, gave diapers and baby clothes and toys, as well as some special treats for mom. A friend and I then drove out to Catherine’s home to deliver the rather large number of items the group had pulled together for this family.
It was a small, bustling place with a friendly dog and excited kids who were happy to have visitors postpone their bedtimes. The baby boy was fast asleep, and mom, while happy and welcoming, was noticeably and expectedly tired. We learned the names of all the kids; chatted a bit; held hands and said a quick prayer together before leaving.
It was different from simply giving to a charity. We had met. Face to face. And now I think of Catherine a lot.
We’re actually planning another get together during March Break (I’m writing this in early March), and I’ve already gone shopping for books for the kids, and am thinking about which sweet treats to bake and bring along. I want to get to know Catherine more; to listen to her story; to hear and understand how she got to where she is today. Creating, in a small way, community.
“Small acts with great love flow from an awareness that every inch of our world and existence is sacred,” Matthew Ruttan told me, “and every inch is deserving of the love God had in mind when He put it all together.”
I’m starting to discover how true—and how important—those words really are.
