Small acts of great love bring about change

What defines a village? The physical structures? The geographical area that it’s located on? The history or traditions that came before? Yes, on some level. But more than anything else, a village is defined by the community itself — the people. I believe the same is true of any spiritual gathering. A church building might be useful, but it’s the people who fill it that bring it to life. When we live in community, transformation is possible.

What are the villages that you belong to? Whether it’s a faith community, workplace, group of friends, or your family, that “village” is defined and created by you who inhabit it. Every person’s journey is unique and special, and your spiritual path is going to have one-of-a-kind qualities. What if being a village means holding space for those special qualities to shine and for each person to be empowered in their own uniqueness?

Marcus Bridgewater, an author who went viral for his enthusiastic gardening videos, puts it this way: “We can’t make anything grow, but we can foster environments where growth is a byproduct of living.” Yes, he’s talking about tomatoes and sunflowers, but on some level, he’s also talking about you and me. The communities that we are a part of are environments where we are enabled to grow, to heal and to connect with one another. Whether you belong to a spiritual community, I wonder what it would be like to think about church as a space where you are empowered to experience the beauty, wisdom and potential already living inside of you.

I think Jesus himself set a great example for this type of approach to spirituality. Mark chapter five tells the story of a woman who, having suffered with a medical issue for 12 years, attempts to approach Jesus in a busy crowd. In a desperate act of faith, she reaches out to touch the fringes of Jesus’ cloak, which, according to the story, instantly makes her whole. Jesus, stopping the crowd and discovering the woman, listens to her story with compassion. Then he tells her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” Another translation of scripture reads, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole.”

For many of us, being on any kind of spiritual path has involved risks of faith. Maybe for you, the idea of returning to a faith community after past wounds feels like an incredible risk. However, as we see in Jesus’ words, your courage, bravery and willingness to take a leap of faith is what contains healing power and possibility.

I believe that this type of hope begins with us, extends to our villages, and has the potential to ripple outwards, impacting the world. As the Dalai Lama puts it, “the creation of a more peaceful and happier society has to begin from the level of the individual, and from there it can expand to one’s family, to one’s neighborhood, to one’s community and so on.” What if the world needs a multitude of small acts of love and light, as we plug into the villages in our midst, blooming right where we are planted? Society often tells us that our dreams are not big enough, or our intentions to help the world will not have enough of an impact. In those moments, I cling to the words of Mother Teresa, who said “not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

Maybe, if we want to help bring positive change to the world, we need to adopt a new mindset. Your inner critic has probably said things like, “what’s the point? What kind of impact can your little ‘village’ actually have?” Maybe it’s time to flip the script. Where the world says, go big, Jesus said, go small. He once told a story in Matthew 13, saying “the kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a sower took and planted in his field. Mustard seeds are minute, tiny — but the seeds grow into trees.” As any gardener might know, mustard seeds are extremely small, but they scatter and spread easily, with the potential of taking over entire gardens. What if we began to see our small acts of great love as mustard seeds?

If you’re like me, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the many problems of society, not to mention the myriad of personal struggles we all face. I would encourage you to remember that every little thing you do with love in your heart makes a difference. These mustard seeds have a far greater potential than what our minds can possibly comprehend. Change begins in our hearts and is magnified when we gather in community. Maybe your village even has resources and opportunities to invest in the well-being of your neighborhood or local area.

I believe in the power and potential of our villages. So did anthropologist Margaret Mead, who famously said, “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”