A couple of days ago, I ventured in to the park that is
behind our home. Now, that normally isn’t
a big deal, but this was in the evening, and there were several reasons why it
may have been unusual. First, we’ve had
lots of rain and the mosquito numbers are enormous. Second, because we’ve had lots of rain, there’s
lots of mud in the paths of the park, which is a nature park of woods, native
grasses, etc…not a park like children play in.
Third, the creek that runs through the park was flooding due to heavy
rains. So it was a bit unusual. In fact, I saw no one else in the park. I probably was pretty much on my own. My purpose was o check out the swollen creek,
so I sprayed on lots of DEET, put on some old shoes, and went in.
I did view the creek.
It wasn’t out of its banks where I viewed it, but the channel there was
about 12 feet deep, and the creek had risen to within a couple of feet of the
top of the channel. Normally, it’s just
a relative trickle in the bottom of the channel. But it’s the other things I found that made
the trek sort of special.
As I looked around, I took notice of several small things
that were around me. A snail no more
than an inch long at the edge of the path happily munching on dinner. Small, flowering plants with delicate flowers
nestled alongside native grasses. One
flower no bigger than a dime had a bug on it munching away. The bug had to have been no larger than a
small peppercorn. Pathways in the woods
that seemed to be especially lit in the evening sun. Hundreds and hundreds of some kind of moth
that evidently liked the cedar trees.
That walk in the park was a good lesson for me to notice the
small things in life. All too often (and
you know where this is going), we are looking for the stupendous…the colossal…the
out-of-this-world. We fail to notice the
delicate…the fragile…the slight.
It’s the same in how we live. We crave the highs in life. We look longingly for the next buzz. We move quickly toward the stimulating. We don’t appreciate the little things that
are all around us and are what makes life worth living.
Little things, like a bug on a flower in the woods. Little things, like decently clean air to
breathe. Little things, like not having
to wonder where our next meal will come from.
Little things, like the unconditional love of a close friend, relative,
or spouse. Little things.
It’s the small things in life that come our way every minute
of the day that make life what it is for us.
To an extent, we have control over what some of those little things
are. But many are those that are just there…placed
there by a loving God who knows that it’s the little things that make life
whole and good.
