Start:Stop - The butterfly & multiplier effects

Bible reading

‘He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”’ (Matthew 13: 31 & 32)

Meditation

Brother Lawrence said that ‘We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.'

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is an illustration of this truth. In this brief parable a small action, the sowing of a small seed, leads to the growth of a large plant. Jesus says that, in a similar way, the kingdom of God has small beginnings but grows to become something much larger. As a result, we should, like Brother Lawrence says, in no wise despise small actions.

We see this illustrated in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Here is a man who was born in an obscure village in an obscure part of the Roman Empire, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. That should have been the end of the story. Yet, long centuries have come and gone but all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings and queens that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of human beings upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. This is an illustration of the butterfly effect where small changes in one place lead to significant change in another.

We could respond to this by thinking what small thing can I do today that will have a big effect but the reality is that we are rarely able to accurately predict future effects. Instead, we can learn, like Brother Lawrence, to value small, mundane actions in the knowledge that, if well done for the love of God, these actions can have significantly larger impacts.

Prayer

Lord God, enable us not to be weary of doing little things for love of You, recognising that you regard not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. Please take and use the little that we offer and multiply it to your praise and glory.

As we do small things for love of you multiply the impact of our actions.

Enable us to sow small seeds of Your love through our actions in those we know and in our communities and workplaces. Bring those seeds to fruition and make their growth be greater than the seed which was sown.

As we do small things for love of you multiply the impact of our actions.

Teach us to value the doing of small, mundane actions recognising that You are equally present in the small things of life as in the great. Give us the eyes of faith to discern You as You come to us at each moment of our daily routine - truly present, truly living, truly attentive to the needs of each person.

As we do small things for love of you multiply the impact of our actions.

Blessing

Giving us eyes of faith, being present in the small things of life, bring seeds sown to fruition, multiplying the impact of our actions. May those blessings of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon us and remain with us always. Amen.

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Eric Whitacre - Alleluia.