Photo credit Il Solyanaya – Pexels
A man starts loving at the wrong end, starting with the climax, no wonder it’s so miserable.
“Do you know, my son, how love begins?” The boy sat small and listened. He shook his head slowly. The old man came closer and whispered. “A tree. A rock. A cloud.”
– Carson McCullers The ballad of a sad cafe.
The poet Roethke wrote that he loves the world in all its many-sided “little kingdoms,” “nourishing all that makes us complete,” and later wrote, “I court the terrible little things…A long gaze restores my tenderness. By midnight I love all that lives.” I am complete —I will explain in detail.
Christian and Buddhist parables use the metaphor of a mustard seed to teach us that even a little faith and a small act of kindness can make a big difference (a mustard seed can grow to more than 10 feet). Kaizenis a Japanese concept that means “continuous improvement” and emphasizes small, ongoing positive changes that focus on improving the process and not just the outcome. The Taoist concept is Wu Wei It involves finding power in subtle, natural actions – small but consistent efforts that create big changes over time, just like water wears away stone. In Native American tradition, ““The Seventh Generation Principle” It highlights the far-reaching impacts of small, everyday choices and encourages us to be mindful of everything we do to create a sustainable future.
“The power of small things” has become a cliché, but some of us are so focused on the deep that we can’t see the shallow. We tend to overlook the small and obvious. As the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes said, “There are many obvious things in the world that nobody happens to notice. The smallest details may well be the most essential.”
Breakthroughs come when we reexamine the ordinary things in front of us. Archimedes discovered buoyancy when he took a bath and cried “Eureka.” Newton discovered gravity when he saw an apple fall. Darwin developed his theory of evolution by observing finches on the Galapagos Islands. “The Little Kingdom” reveals unexpected insights.
Small habits of kindness make our daily lives more human. Small acts of kindness deepen the way we express our love. In addition to household chores like making the bed or taking out the trash, kindness also comes from simply being quiet, talking less and listening more. Such acts can renew our entire experience and perception of the world.
Similarly, biblical stories often show how the last, the least, the least, the lost have a big impact. Small things diffract and capture our attention. A shrub burns and Moses learns the name of God. In the dry wilderness, he strikes a rock to get water. Jacob flees, feeling guilty and scared. In the middle of nowhere, he sees a vision of a ladder stretching from the earth to the heavens, revealing God’s presence. Gideon leads a small army and defeats thousands of enemy soldiers. David, the youngest brother, is chosen as king and defeats the giant Goliath with only a sling and a stone. On the cross, Jesus promises paradise to the thief who was dying next to him. The apostle Paul describes a personal affliction or illness that God refused to heal. Jesus calls this “thorn in the flesh” a “messenger from Satan” and realizes that by grace, “when I am weak, then I am strong.”
“The truth is always stranger than fiction; how differently would we see the world if it were told?” (Lord Byron)
Seeds, water, baths. Apples, shrubs, slings. Guilt, “thorns in the flesh,” and weakness.
Trees. Rocks. Clouds.
And every stone has wings.
Note
“Preaching from stones may be off the menu, but even the most boring pebble should be cause for surprise.”
Raymond Tallis was a philosopher, poet and novelist (see quote below).
Trees. Rocks. Clouds. – McCullers, The Ballad of Sad Cafe (1951, 2005) Chapter 7. You too may discover this “Lonely Hunter” or encounter it again after reading it. “A Sad and Happy Life” Carson McCullers Lithub (Online) – February 28, 2024.
Theodore Lawsky – excerpt Small (1953) and What can my bones tell me? (1957). “What had been vague is now clear.
It’s like a spirit has been set free
Or a subject other than myself.
Not prayed for,
And lastly…”
“The world is full of obvious things…” – Peter Beverlin Some lessons to learn from Sherlock Holmes (2013). “Peter Bebelin is one of the smartest men on the planet.” – Nassim Taleb (Black Swan, Antifragile).
The breakthrough is… “Eureka” – Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose How consciousness became the universe (2017): “These eureka moments are often little things, little realizations piled on top of even smaller realizations. They may take you in a direction far removed from what others might have thought.”
And finally, the smallest, tiniest, lost… By Robert Capon, Episcopal priest, author (and chef) Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment (2002), p. 190. – Jesus’ parables include the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son (Luke 15). Jesus said, “The last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16).
“The truth is always strange…” – From Lord Byron’s long narrative poem “Don Juan” – Canto 14 (1826).
Moses – Exodus 3:1-15; Jacob – Genesis 28:10-17; Gideon – Judges 7:1-25; David – 1 Samuel 16:14-17 and 17:1-51. Jesus“The Parable of the Mustard Seed – Matthew 17:20-21, The Promise to the Dying Thief – Luke 23:39-43” pole – 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.
read
More broadly:
Amazing Defense – Raymond Tallis (2012). Tallis is a cultural critic, retired physician, and clinical neuroscientist. The Economist – Intelligent Life Magazine [“1843”] He is described as “one of the world’s leading polymaths.”
God of Small Things (Novel) – Arundhati Roy (1997), renowned Indian author and screenwriter. “The power of small things” is found not only in acts and objects but also in the details of social and political action. The small, even the subtle – textures, expressions, sounds – are almost sacred. Roy’s debut novel won the Booker Prize in 1997 and has been translated into more than 40 languages.
Philip K. Dick – A former cult science fiction writer, considered one of the most visionary writers of the 20th century. In his 1962 novel The Man in the High CastleDick uses the metaphor of “the pursuit of smallness” as a means of resisting “taking over”, and this is a recurring theme in much of his work. [This was a philosophical and political matter for Dick—also acutely personal. “After a terrifying vision of what he called ‘the face of evil,’ which he first thought was God, the novelist turned to the Episcopal Church.” Salon – July 6, 2019.]
Approximately 2 + 2 = 5: https://williamgreen.substack.com/about – revision
Source: 2 + 2 = 5 – williamgreen.substack.com
