The Simple Things Have More Effect

This is a short meditation on what types of things affect both our spiritual lives and others, as well as to show part of the nature of Christian love (agape).

I was sitting on a beach in San Diego, on the night of January 16. I was on a retreat with my church and our priest gave a short talk. Among the topics he touched upon was this.

He said in order to live the Christian life, easy, little things have to be done like taking out the trash, washing the dishes, even smiling.

It makes us think how much it will witness to Christ, as well as to open up others to ask about Him, if we do these simple things. For example if someone is having a bad day and a person smiles to him or her, that person might be uplifted and encouraged for the rest of the day. It might even be that this person is waiting for you specifically to smile to him or her. These are the sort of simple things that bear witness to Christ and His love.

Other things like being a help to others will show this character, like working tirelessly.

Sometimes it is the manner of speech, movement, and behavior that will bear witness to Christ. We always have to remember that we are representing Him to those who are not of the Church as St. Paul says, “we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). If people see that we cuss all the time, we treat people with contempt, we ignore others for a dumb reason, and behave essentially no different from anybody else, how is then that people can see a difference in us, the difference that comes from Christ? We are the children of the King, and the children of the King don’t live like the rest of the world, there is a distinction between them and the rest of the people. This distinction, Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John where he says, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

This distinction will separate us from the world, because the world does not know God, and without knowing God, love (agape) is not realized. This is so because agape is unconditional love, but the world has only tribal love or friendship love. They will not necessarily go help someone who is a stranger to them, and they will not seek justice for all, but only for their relatives or friends, even if they are not just. It is the Christian who looks at humanity as all equal whether they be his family, friends, or even the innocent person who he does not know. So impartiality is part of Christian love.

This last part about impartiality is part of Christian love reminds us to show love to everyone and to love only requires the simple things. Don’t think of getting big gifts or taking great trips, the simple, little things here and now will have more effect overall than those big things and will be remembered by those who receive it.

So remember smile, say hi, greet a person, take out the trash, wash the dishes, and do all similar “little things,” and you will live in the way Christ showed us and commanded us.

Thank God for them.

Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.