Little Things
Several weeks ago, as the back-to-school season approached, I was reminiscing about family summer vacations over the years. One of the standout favorites was a mid-summer trip to northern Minnesota. I was in my early teens when my parents, sister, and I joined extended family at a lake cabin for a week of outdoor fun. Among the excursions that week was a visit to Itasca State Park.
It’s there that you can find the headwaters of the Mississippi River. If you happen to have been there before, you might be able to picture the scenic Lake Itasca and how it flows into a modest outlet stream. At one point, there’s a series of stepping stones placed across the stream where tourists can make their way across. And, of course, there’s the gift shop where visitors can buy all sorts of souvenirs that say, “I walked across the Mississippi River.”
I often think about that great family vacation when I’m making my way across the I-74 bridge here in the Quad Cities. At one point (some decades ago now), my sister and I stood in ankle-deep water as we shuffled 20 feet or so across this humble looking body of water. Now, some 500+ miles to the south, the Mighty Mississippi looks much different. At various points along the route, it can be as much as a couple miles wide with swift currents carrying all sorts of boats and barges. Nothing like the creek we strolled across in Minnesota.
What makes the difference? Thousands of places where water funnels into the river along the way. Other creeks and tributaries each add their bit of water until, eventually, it turns into an immeasurable ocean of water in the Gulf of Mexico.
If all you ever knew of the Mississippi is what you saw in Northern Minnesota, you’d never have any idea of what it could become. Every little stream or babbling brook might seem insignificant, but they add up to something much greater. Those of us here in the Quad Cities (and all along the river’s path) get a front row seat to the beauty of what happens when every little drop counts.
It reminds me of a poem by Julia Carney, titled “Little Things”:
Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.
Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love,
Make our earth an Eden,
Like the heaven above.
Little things like drops of water and steady streams don’t seem all that significant. Until you realize they can become mighty rivers and enormous oceans. Not so unlike our own lives of faith. Small acts of kindness can seem trivial or unimportant. Until you understand that love just multiplies. When shared with others, compassion, empathy, or care, simply swells to include more and more people. In the words of Mother Teresa, “We cannot all do great things. But we each can do small things with great love.”
