Is This The Life?

It has been said, “There are no little things.” Often, things we regard as “little” may be of greater value than things we regard as “big.” Could the cup of water exist without the drop of water? Could an hour exist without thirty-six hundred seconds? And as we read in the Gospels, wondrous things can result from sharing even the tiniest crust of bread or the smallest sip of water. A kind word in a time of need; a caring smile in a time of stress; a bit of encouragement in a time of frustration; a spark of hope in a time of despair; a gesture of understanding in a time of confusion — summed in this line from a beautiful poem: “In a moment these better things are gone — but there are a hundred ripples circling on and on.” We can’t judge which good and well-intentioned deeds, large or small, are genuinely worthwhile. It is not for us to judge which actions, large or small, are of enduring value in the work of building the Kingdom. In Luke 6:43 Jesus says, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. There is an old Jewish parable about a traveler who comes upon an older man planting a carob tree. “When will the tree bear fruit?” the traveler asks. “Perhaps in seventy years,” the old man replies. “Do you expect to eat of the fruit of that tree?” the traveler asks. “No,” the man replies, “but I didn’t find the world desolate when I came into it, and as my fathers planted for me before I was born, so do I plant for those who come after me.” That parable proclaims the Good News that, as far as God is concerned, a simple act of selfless service is worth more than all the pious prayers or showy gestures of praise in the world. God is interested in the story we are telling with our lives. And He wants our story to have a happy ending. God plants us on His good earth to die so that we might know eternal life. Like the grain of wheat, we are becoming, growing into maturity, and surrendering ourselves completely to God’s Plan for creation. Each of us can make a unique contribution to the fulfillment of God’s Grand Design. We must do more than acknowledge that we can experience eternal life now. We must go further and act like it! Each of us has been challenged to make our life story a story of the “Good Life.” Promises and plans must be put into action, or they are useless . We all know the saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” And, very often, most of us find ourselves walking down the middle of that road. Most of us have good intentions about many good things: We intend to give up those habits that are destructive in our lives. We intend to be more loving, sensitive, compassionate, and present to other persons. We intend to reexamine our values, priorities, and our whole way of life. But we’re swamped. We have so many other things on our minds that we don’t have time to follow through on our good intentions. This very human tendency was very much on the mind of Jesus. Again and again, He made the point: accepting His teachings was not enough; they had to be acted upon; they had to be applied; they had to be part of our everyday living. In a hundred ways, Jesus urged His disciples to get on with it. “Be like the good healthy tree that bears good fruit,” He told them. “It’s not enough to stand around saying, ‘Lord, Lord,'” He told them. He said that the important thing is that “You do the Will of the Father.” That was a call to action! So, what are you waiting for?