How do we trust in the small? How do we love in the great?
Trust in the Small
At first glance, most of the details of life appear insignificant, in the mundane, ordinary responsibilities of life. For example: returning something you borrowed from a friend or family member, paying back a personal loan (although this could be a big thing), doing what you say you are going to do (pick up dry cleaning, take out the garbage, pick up milk on the way home, etc.) Small details. Yet, actions matter in the circumstances no matter how unimportant they seem.
Trustworthiness happens in the minute details, the groundwork that prepares us to love. The ordinary aspects of life are the practice arena for how we love and serve one another.
Love in the Great
In what ways do we practice trustworthiness? Whatever seems like our ordinary routine in life – how we go to work, how we gather with friends in family, how we dine with others, all these everyday happenings are opportunities to practice trust and love.
By being intentional about practicing love and service in the small details, we become more readily prepared to love and serve when greater things call us to service. For example: forgiving someone who has harmed our family, being with a loved one who is dying, sitting with friends who are waiting and worrying about news of a family member who is critically ill, etc. Trust in the small details fuels the love and service for the greater things in life.
The Intention of the Heart
The point is that the size of the details in life does not matter. Life is all small stuff or all great stuff depending on your perspective. It doesn’t matter the size of the task; it is the size of your heart and intention. The intention to be authentic, to be a person of integrity, to love wholeheartedly comes from a place deep within. No matter what the task, be a person of integrity in the doing.
Poetry Says It Better
A few days ago, I stumbled across this poem by William Martin in his book, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents. The poetry echoes my thoughts on how we trust and love in the ordinary.
Make the Ordinary Come Alive
William Martin
Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but is a way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
Your Turn
How do you grow in trustworthiness? What details help you love and serve?
Your thoughts? Comments welcome here.
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