It’s the little things, isn’t it?
The tiny splinter that throbs more painfully than a stubbed toe. A child’s colorful scribblings worth more than an original Monet. Feeling free to hug a dear friend in this prolonged pandemic. One accidentally missed appointment out of the thousands kept in a lifetime. Being told by the doctor to avoid salt.
It’s the little things that can make a big difference.
One of my favorite words in the original Greek of the New Testament is only three letters long. It is usually translated “in order to” or “so that.” It points to purpose. It signals significance. A little word with a big impact. A great example is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians in verses which follow the Christ Hymn found in chapter 2. Verses 14 & 15 read, “Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.”
It’s the little words that can have a huge impact.
Consider our English prepositions. Little words that make a big difference. For example, it’s a very different experience to be in a swimming pool as compared to by a swimming pool (especially for one who doesn’t swim!). Technically speaking, a preposition expresses something about our relationship to something or someone else in time and space. That’s a lot for a little word to accomplish!
Our Scripture readings for this Sunday both feature widowed women. In the Bible a widow is a very vulnerable person. Reading Psalm 146 we discover that God has special concern for the orphan and the widow (verse 9). For both women life is precarious. Both are in a particular time and place – aren’t we all? It’s curious to consider how each relates to the time and space in which they find themselves. For us as well. Are we looking to take from life or give to life? There are those pesky prepositions again! How does our relationship to time and space and others shift when one preposition turns into another? God’s word invites us to be engaged by these wonderings and more in worship! Let’s discover where the Spirit will take us together!