Do Ye the Little Things In Life

Today is the Feast of St. David – Patron Saint of Wales.

It is said that St. David was a great teacher and a great preacher. His last words to his followers were reported to be; “Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us.”  From this comes the very popular Welsh expression; “Do ye the little things in life!”

I pray this day that we focus on doing the little things. Sometimes we get lured into believing that to be effective our actions have to be large enough, loud enough, colourful enough, or impressive enough to be noticed by many. Truth be told, the most impactful things that we do often come from what most might see as insignificant or small. Remember the words of Mother Teresa; “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”  In the little things we can offer love and hope to others. This should not be hard for us to comprehend. I will offer you an example. It’s been a bit of a long week for me. Yesterday, I received this brief email:

Subject:
Hang in there!
Text of email:
Thinking of you as you minister.
You and Catherinanne are on my list of prayers.

To protect the innocent, I will not reveal the parishioner who sent it. But I am compelled to share it as those few words really changed the complexion of my day. Knowing that someone else was thinking of me, and was concerned enough to take even a moment out of what I know is a busy day, to send a few words of encouragement reminded me of how very fortunate I am to be a member of the Body of Christ. As a member of a Christian community I am never alone. One person’s willingness to do ‘the little things in life’ reminded me of that.

So, think of the small gifts that mean the most to us. For me, a word, a smile, a text message, a call to check in and say hello, or a note being reminded that I am being prayed for, all make a big difference to me. It would stand to reason that I could have the same impact on others.

On this St. David’s Day let us all pay attention to the little things in life. One small act of kindness to another today will go a long way.

In honour of the day I offer this link to the great Welsh Hymn – Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah!
It is one of my Favourites.

PS If you live anywhere in Canada – you are probably cold right now. I have something that will warm you up – celebrate St. David today with a bowl of Cawl.  You can thank me later – Here is a recipe that I know to be excellent — there are others equally as good…. but this is one I enjoy. To retrieve the Cawl recipe – Click Here!