“Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings. Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed.” ~ Muriel Rukeyser (excerpted from the poem Elegy in Joy)

A seed, an egg, a single living cell, a word, a look, a thought….big things start with small things. A small thing can make a huge difference.  For instance, consider a lion cub, small, warm, golden, vulnerable. One day this cub will grow and become a threat, dangerous, a killer. Beautiful, still, but not longer vulnerable, warm and golden, but now a serious challenge. This cub is now a king! Many things in our lives, both terrible and benign, begin with something insignificant.

If we set bits in the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we can turn their whole bodies about. Likewise, look at the ships: though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze! ~ JAMES 3:3-5 AMP

It behooves us all to pay attention to the small things, the beginnings. A great deal of time and hard work, and hard work over time, is needed to bring great things into reality. Grand empires, dynasties, monopolies, legacies, every thing you hope to accomplish or possess under the sun, every wish, every hope, every promise….well, you get the idea. 🙂 The trick is to see the potential and draw hope from it, instead of seeing the immensity of the mountains you have to climb on the way there. Even Mt. Everest is conquered one well-timed step at a time. Our choices today shape our tomorrows.

As much as personal responsibility and choice are lauded these days, it is perhaps also wise to consider the choices of God. Ever the cheerleader for the underdogs, God chooses us often when we feel the least able to accomplish the impossible dreams he sets in our hearts. We are, if we will be courageously honest, admit that we are small, wretched things, riddled with weakness, misconceptions, infirm in our minds, biased in our opinions, unbalanced in our preferences and life choices. A quick review of the history of the world will tell you all you need to know.

 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” ~ 1 Corinthians 1:25-29

Perhaps, instead of being impatient with slow starts and small beginnings, we should be encouraged, not because of our own amazingness or ability, but because God, in his unsearchable wisdom, by his unfathomable prerogative, has chosen small things, has blessed small things. God’s real glory and immensity is best seen when our pseudo-substitute glory isn’t in the way. When we are no longer distracted by our opinion of ourselves, whether for good or bad, we will be able to truly look up from our position as objects of grace and mercy at the vast Majesty that is God. Small things are not remarkable in and of themselves. Their worth lies in something far outside of themselves.

“Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 You have set your glory

in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

 

You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds,

and the animals of the wild,

the birds in the sky,

and the fish in the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!” ~ Psalm 8