We will never fully know what others around us are going through. We’ll never fully know the difference we might make, even when we do not intentionally try, when crossing through another’s life. To someone down, seeking for a reason to rise, we will never know the power in an offered smile in another’s moment of sadness, a kind word from another when one does not have them for one’s self, the value and dignity shown by simple recognition of another who feels lost or overlooked in this world.
I’ve lived small moments when little acts and signs from others helped raise me when I was down. These, more so than the “great events” of life’s experience, are the ones that seem to be what I most remember.
This Sunday, the first reading is of Elijah going to a mountain in search of God. There is a mighty wind that crushes rocks before Elijah’s eyes—but God is not in the wind. There is an earthquake that shakes the world—but God is not in the earthquake. There is a fire that sets the world to flame—but God is not in the flame…”After the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound”—God is in this sound.
The power and spirit of God is not in the forces that change worlds by force but in the small signs that shift souls, and as we are made in his image, through these signs and guided hearts, he changes worlds beyond what force alone can do.
How often do we sense these small signs changing us, and how often does God use us to be the agents to deliver such signs to others? I believe they happen every day. Believing this, my world is given Wonder.