Simple Things

My daughter took the picture.
My granddaughter is standing in the back yard.
She is looking up at the sky.
Even though she is in profile, I can see the big smile on her face.

I followed her gaze with my eyes.
She was holding the string of a kite.
The kite, even on this hot day, was high above the trees.
I know she wanted this particular kite for a while.

It was such a simple scene.
The sheer beauty of its simplicity touched my heart.
A little girl and a kite.
A kite high above the trees, touching the clouds in her imaginative mind.

Simple things.
Simple life.
Simple pleasures.
Simplicity.

When the things of this world make no sense to us, we take stock of what is important.
When we have a day when we feel we are about to fly off the world, we remember simple things.
Simple things ground us.
Simple things help us to take a step back and breathe.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta once said, Go out and do something small for God.
Something small.
Something simple.
Something unnoticed.

Take stock of the simple things you do each day.
Change diapers.
Make meals.
Put out the trash.

Make the bed.
Clean the house.
Do the grocery shopping.
Weed the garden.

Walk the dog.
Feed the cat.
Return the library books.
Cut the grass.

Write the thank you note.
Play the board game.
Read the book for the thousandth time.
Do the laundry.

Make the phone call.
Listen until it hurts.
Put an arm around the shoulder.
Smile when you don’t feel like it.

…So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed…
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts…
Practice resurrection.
(excerpts from: MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT by Wendell Berry)

The little things we do really matter.
The little things we do often mean so much more than the big things.
Little and big are our assessments.
When we do everything as for the Lord, it matters greatly to Him. (Colossians 3:23)

I was behind them in line.
It was a long wait, since there were only two checkout lines open.
A mother, twin girls, and a father were in front of me.
There was also a grandmother pushing a stroller with a child inside.

All I could see was the child’s little feet.
All I could hear were the sweet sounds of a child simply enjoying being alive.
All I could notice was the little hand that kept sticking out from the stroller.
The little hand was reaching for something and only that something would do.

I watched the father make silly faces to his child in the stroller.
This was great entertainment to the little one who was tired of waiting.
When he stopped, the little hand became visible again.
That little pleading hand was saying, More, Daddy.

The father did the littlest thing: he grabbed his child’s hand.
Do something that won’t compute.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

The essence of profundity is simplicity.
I wrote that quote down many years ago.
I am still pondering its meaning to this day.
Wendell Berry understood.

The little things matter.
Bandage the scraped knee.
Wipe away the child’ tears.
Find the lost toy.

Pour juice into the cup one more time.
Get a snack, yet again.
Fly a kite above the trees in the back yard.
Practice resurrection.

Amen and Amen.