The Next Small Step

My friends Wayne and Susan Letizia once shared a story with me.

A sparrow once asked a dove to tell him the weight of a single flake of snow. “Nothing,” was the answer. But then the sparrow told the dove a story:

“I sat on the branch of a fir tree, just as it began to snow—not heavily, not in a raging blizzard, but just like in a dream,” he said. “Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles. The number reached exactly 3,741,952. When the next flake dropped onto the branch—the next weightless snowflake—the branch snapped and broke off.”

The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on such matters, thought about the story for a while and finally said to herself, “If that is true, if the accumulated weight of a small thing is that significant, perhaps only one person’s voice is lacking for peace to come to the world.”

Sometimes we might wonder, Is my small gift going to make a difference? Does my contribution mean anything? Can what I offer really make any difference?

In some of his parables, Jesus told us that the kingdom of God is like a seed scattered on the ground. It is small, inconspicuous.

Which I think raises the question: What is one small step I can take right now—however small? What is one small step I can take this week to grow in my faith… one small step I can take to share Christ’s love… one small step I can take to help our church? What is one small step I can take that might be a blessing to someone else? What is one thing—just one thing—this week?

Let us pray:  God of Grace, I pray today especially for those carrying heavy burdens, weighed down with anxiety or worry. Be near to those who need you near. Help each of us, no matter where we are on this journey, to take one small step toward you. In our stepping, in our giving, may we find grace upon grace. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.