Most Australians know Paul Kelly’s From Little Things Big Things Grow. This song had its genesis in a camping trip he took to the outback where he learned of the Wave Hill stockmen’s strike of 1966. The traditional owners, the Gurindji people, led by Vincent Lingiari, decided enough was enough. They had worked for low wages and food rations on a vast cattle station. More than simply a wage strike, this was the beginning of the Indigenous land rights movement.
Vincent was the gentle and persistent spokesman for the cause and it was from this small, insistent protest that a profound change in the understanding of connection to country was made. The following lyrics tell of his approach when explaining the walk-off to others.
And daily he went round softly speaking his story
To all kinds of men from all walks of life
Vincent did not yell and shout, but quietly and persistently and with great dignity plead his cause.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux believed in the small things; the small selfless acts she called the little flowers of love. A Carmelite nun she wanted to be a saint but felt that she could not achieve this through grand gestures and public piety. What she could do were the small daily acts of love; sometimes the acts that required sacrifice or humiliation or the gritting of teeth into a smile. This became known as the Little Way. Its particular appeal lay in the fact that anybody could take up the Little Way and incorporate it into their daily lives.
Saint Thérèse did not take the easy way. The easy way is to be charitable to people who are grateful; to be recompensed by affirmation or acknowledgement; to be nice to those who are nice back. She knew how much harder and more meaningful it is to do something for those who will never know. She knew that sometimes her effort was expended in the face of contempt and disdain; that her goodness was mocked and thrown back in her face; that sometimes her best efforts at small kindnesses were met with indifference or rejection. Yet, she persisted, gently, implacably, soulfully resilient in the face of the malicious and mean.
Through her continued and indefatigable small efforts, she changed how people understood what it is to be saintly. It wasn’t about the grand action or the renunciation of sinful ways or the mortification of the flesh. It wasn’t about a sudden epiphany or long bouts of prayer. It was about the small consistent good things, the unheralded and unnoticed ripples, repeated multitudinously across the globe, that somehow bring about the groundswell that provokes change.
Gentle people can change the world in profound ways when they believe in a just or higher cause. Perhaps Thérèse understood the God of small things, the God who sees the sparrows and the lilies and the unseen gestures; the God who knows that small things done with big hearts is what really makes the world go round.
Most of us will not be able to make great philanthropic gestures or stride the world stage to make change. We will not have the charisma or the words or the access to the public square of opinion-making. We will, however, have the opportunity to do lots of small things; at home, at work, in tight-knit groups and with assorted like-minded companions, working with what we have and who we are in the fruitfulness of our own spheres. Khalil Gibran reminds us that the smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention. Saint Teresa of Calcutta reminded us to Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
Pope Francis understands the potency of the small; that decisive word or action that challenges an unjust paradigm and provokes new ways of thinking and being. The robust NO or the passionate YES! Recently, he has reminded us that The holiness to which the Lord calls us will grow through small gestures. And if we go back to the parable of the mustard seed, we know that when Jesus taught of the Kingdom of God, it had a small and unremarkable start with Jesus and his early followers, but over time and trial it would grow and strengthen and shelter all who belong. Thus, we have the Christian faith tradition today, providing meaning and purpose for those of us who seek it.
Recent reports note the decline in volunteerism in Australia, a sad note, which reflects on the changes in our society and the loss of some of that social glue that holds us together. This has been occasioned by the siege mentality that has developed through lockdown and the fact that people are less community-minded than they were. It is also a fact that people volunteer when they have the time and do not have other pressing issues in their lives. Volunteering is way of giving back to community. It may be a few hours doing activities at a nursing home or tutoring refugee children or committing to edit a local newsletter. It is doing a little something that makes things tick, that activates community effort and good will. We know of remarkable stories of kindness afforded by volunteer input – a few hours here and there that can lift the lives of those around us. Zechariah 4:10 reminds us: Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.
What if we went round softly speaking our own stories and listening to those of others as we interact with all kinds of people from all walks of life?
What if we started doing all those small, loving things, sometimes unsung and unseen, building again the Kingdom for our time?
What if? …
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