Perhaps you caught the note a couple of days ago explaining my entrapment in Akron from one of the storms that hit Ohio these past couple of days. As much as it made life difficult for some it must be admitted that it was a beautiful snow and so my sister suggested that we engage in an excursion to an old farm-turned-county park and take a turn about and catch the beauty of the winter’s day.Take a look at these pinewoods. I love this little path through here. In the summer people hike down it and in the winter you can see two slick tracks with pin pricks on each side where cross country skiers dash around the old fields. Off to each side are the pad marks from many a walked dog. Yet about twenty years ago this was not but an old farmer’s field overrun with weeds. That is until the Girl Scouts came out one weekend and planted hundreds of twigs that came up to me somewhere on the low side of the space between my ankle and my knee.
Saying, “Some day this will be a wooded land where people will recreate and animals will find food and shelter,” I bet was of little comfort to the poor sweating little girls who labored out in the hot, treeless field; little children not having much appreciation for doing things that will bear fruit a generation away. Yet here is the stand of woods today. Do you suppose any of them ever remember that hot summer day? I wonder how many of them have ever returned to take a peek at the progress of their stand of trees. Perhaps many of those girls are married with tiny tots and have moved far away. But what a wonderful legacy they left behind. Their small effort produced so much joy for so many people for so long.
Faith works much the same way you know. Be not afraid to offer a small seed of faith to someone. Who knows what it might grow into?
In This Rock magazine Deacon Bill Turrentine speaks of how he was about as far away from believing in God as
might be possible. One day, narrowly escaping grave injury in a climbing accident one of his buddies jokingly asked him, “Do you believe in God now?” It was a fairly innocuous comment with out much punch from a man of faith. Yet that tiny seed over time grew into a mighty faith that brought him to God and even into the deaconate in the Church.
Do not hold back on small acts of faith and witnessing. Who knows what blessings they will bring to others later on down the road? You may never see the result. One must simply have faith that God will magnify your efforts if He is given some amount of effort to build upon.
7 comments:
It was a beautiful snow yesterday, how it glittered as it gently fell. I was studying it on my car windows, how each is perfectly hexagonal and a unique work of transient beauty. I thought how God was showering me in mathematics and art.
But it is too @!%$&* cold!
Sparky! Oh, my bleeding ears! lol
Snow is pretty. Here in MN we just have old crusty snow right now, but are going to get a couple inches today and tonight. And we usually get dumped on in March.
Anyway, a few years ago I worked with an Evangelical Pastor, and we used to have the best discussions! He kinda had a front-row seat to my conversion, and he definitely contributed to it in a very good way. Anyway, one day he told me, "You never know who's watching you."
And he's right. We don't ever know. And maybe later we find out that something we did or said brought someone closer to Christ.
Since I began blogging, I have gotten occasional emails from people who really appreciated something I said. They were people who were seeking, trying to find their way in, or at least, back, to the Church. And whever that has happened, I've always felt very humbled that God would use me to drop that little seed out there. I don't know that I'll ever be a Saint, but it's nice to think that maybe in some small way I was able to contribute to the Sainthood of another.
We are so WEALTHY in the Church...how can we NOT spread it around?
One of things I try impress on my RCIA class is that you may never know when you have planted a seed. I have them recall a teacher from grade school who they still remember many, many years later. I point out to them that just as they remember people there are people who remember them. We always hope it is for the right reason:)
I was remarking to a friend on Wednesday morning ... on my way to work the snow was just beautiful going down Shaker Blvd to Green Road Station - it looked like a picture from Ansel Adams or Norman Rockwell. Just beautiful (and frigidly cold!!!!) LOL LM
LM
do you use the rta?
or just work for them?
Both - I use the train to get downtown & then the large buses to get to the Cathedral and the trolley buses to get to the Main Office Building. When I lived in Willowick, I used to take the large buses to downtown, but now that I live near one of the train stations, it's much easier & faster.
Whenever I visit a city (D.C. - WMATA, Columbus - COTA, Lake County - LakeTran, Boston - MBTA) I try to always take public transit - it is usually a great way to travel. My mom and I even took public transit in Germany! Of course the trains were much faster there. *grin* LM
Loved the snow!!! I'm a winter person to begin with!! We got one day off school (only Weds.) but since I was up I went to mass (after getting stuck in my driveway)! What a great post. As a teacher it is frustrating some times to feel like you are not getting through to some students but some of them will tell you later that you did influence them and not necessarily in the subject you were teaching them! Some I'm sure you influence and never know.
MJ
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