Years ago, a young woman in our congregation shared
a powerful message about making a difference in the things we do. She spoke a little about Mother Teresa’s work
in the slums of Calcutta, India, where Mother Teresa worked to meet the needs
of the destitute and starving, people who were full of suffering and
despair. Mother Teresa’s little group,
the Missionaries of Charity, were not able to relieve the needs of the overwhelming
crowds of naked, hungry, and homeless people whose privations stretched far
beyond the Charity’s resources.
However, Mother Teresa responded to criticism directed at
how insignificant her help was compared to the need, by saying
that welfare was about numbers, but Christian love was about Christ. Mother Teresa served the one within her
reach, doing the best she could with what she had.
That was the first time I had ever heard Mother Teresa’s
quote about her humble service making a difference in the world, a little bit at a time.
She said:
“What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean. But if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be
one drop less.”
I am an aphorism addict.
And this aphorism has left a lasting impression on me because of its short
and memorable truth about life.
Sometimes we think that our own making a difference in the
world has to be at a time when we think we are all grown up enough or educated enough or
financially able enough to do that. But
consider the possibility of making a difference in the world
in the context of the here and now and in the small and simple.
Jesus Christ taught us to love and serve the one within
our reach simply by the things He did during His lifetime. He sat with people. He listened patiently to them. He spent time
in the home of His friends. He responded with kindness, understanding, and
love. He showed compassion and gave
comfort.
There was nothing negligible about His service. Likewise,
there is nothing negligible about the simple acts of kindness and assistance
that you and I offer to those around us on a daily basis, whether it’s reaching
out to a family member at home or someone elsewhere who has had a difficult day
and needs someone to listen. Or maybe it's when we
slow down so that guy who tries to get into our lane at the last minute
doesn’t miss his exit. Maybe it’s the clerk at the store who might be a little
slow or new at the job and needs some patience and understanding. There are people all over for whom we can
make a difference in their world.
Church leader David O. McKay often gave this quote,
“Life is made up not of great sacrifices or
duties, but of little things in which smiles and kindness and small obligations
given habitually are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort.”
It truly is the small and simple things that make a
difference.
On one occasion when I was a flight attendant for United Airlines, we had started flying in the early morning with a last leg that was a short hop from Chicago to Des Moines. We arrived in the
late afternoon—early enough for me to go out on a walk. And for some reason that day I had such a
hankering for a taco! I hurried and
changed out of my uniform and asked at the hotel desk where I could find a Taco
Bell or other Mexican fast-food place.
We were in a downtown hotel and the young desk clerk said there was
a Taco John’s, but it was pretty far away, like a mile or so. He said if I waited, though, he would take me
in the hotel van when it came back from the airport. I laughed. A mile?!
That was NOTHING for me. But
there was one caveat—the main roads were all torn up. However, he suggested I could follow the detour and maybe
get to Taco John's that way.
And off I went. It
must have been fall because I passed the busy campaign headquarters for a local
candidate. And the temperature was
dropping about as fast as the sun was setting. I knew I had walked way more
than a mile. Yet, in spite of seeing
wrappers on the ground from various fast-food places, there had been NOTHING like
that in sight along the way. I was
wishing I hadn’t started out on that quest for a taco. It was soon going to be full dark. I just wanted to be back at the hotel!
While I was walking along, I started thinking about a
story my son had told me a friend shared with him. His friend was running some kind
of a Marathon or Triathlon and at some point, deep into the race, felt like he
wasn’t going to be able to go on. At
each step he felt weaker and weaker and was sure he was going to pass out. Suddenly, an angel was there by his side encouraging him and then ran every step of the way to the end of the race with
him. My son's friend said he would never
have been able to finish the race without this angel. Turns out, the angel was his wife.
As I thought about this experience my son told me about his friend, I
was wishing I had some angel that was going to show up and shoulder my load for
me! And, the next thing I knew, a van
pulled up along-side of me and asked if I would like a ride. It was the hotel van! When this driver had returned to the hotel
with his load of guests, the first young man I had talked to told him about my
taking off to go find Mexican fast food.
Knowing that the roads were a mess, the second young man—the driver of
this van—took off to find me. He even
told me he would be happy to take me to Taco John’s. Nah!
By that time, I had lost my desire for tacos. “Just take me to the hotel, I’ll get a bite
to eat there.”
What a small and simple gesture on that young man’s part. What a great rescue for me! I have never forgotten how he had listened to some prompting—after all I was a grown woman and could get an Uber or a Lyft or even catch a bus. Flight attendants stayed at their hotel all the time. Why would he be concerned about me?
But what a difference it made to me that night. What a difference it has made to me since
when some prompting comes for me to help when it isn’t easy or convenient. I think of my “angel” on that occasion and
press on to help someone who needs care.
Small and simple doesn’t mean easy. It really doesn’t.
But small and simple things can become our most valued life
experiences.
Again, we don’t have to wait for the most favorable
circumstances in our lives to make a difference. It’s the love of Christ that
makes the difference.
I invite you to follow Christ’s example in reaching out
to those around us. Like Mother Teresa said, Christlike love transforms our
simple, everyday living into something extraordinary.
Think on these often-quoted words from Spencer W. Kimbal
“God does notice us, and he watches over
us. But it is usually through another
person that he meets our needs.
Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom…So often,
our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving mundane help
with mundane tasks, but what glorious consequences can flow from mundane acts
and from small but deliberate deeds!”
