Small and big

IN life we cannot help but deal with things both small and
big. We have to learn how to handle this aspect which can be very
tricky at times, especially when we get subjected to a lot of
pressures.

            In the gospel, Christ faulted some leading Jews of that
time for getting stuck with little duties but neglecting the big ones,
straining the gnat but swallowing the camel. “Woe to you scribes and
Pharisees, you hypocrites,” he said, “You pay tithes of mint and dill
and cumin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.” (Mt 23,23)

            We are familiar with the saying that “the devil is in the
details.” It refers to our tendency to be too concerned about the big
things—like the over-all or long-term goal, while paying little
attention, if any at all, to the details to carry out that goal, as in
not having plans nor the necessary attitude and skills to achieve the
goal.

            But the reverse can also happen. The devil can also be in
the big things, in the sense that we can be too concerned about the
little details, the practice and the routine, but practically
forgetting the over-all picture, and especially the virtue of charity,
the be-all and end-all. The gospel passage above precisely falls under
this category.

            The ideal, of course, is to give due attention to both the
big and small things in any endeavor. And this can happen only when
that dual love of God and neighbor is the motive of all our actions.
God-love-neighbor should be both in the big and the small things in
our life. It is what would make us attentive to the requirements of
the small and big things in life, and see their organic relationship.

            And so we need to constantly rectify our intentions, since
very easily and frequently we can be overtaken by merely practical
motives which in themselves are not bad, but which cannot stand on
their own alone for long without being grounded on love for God and
neighbor.

            Obviously this ideal can seem to be too much for our human
condition to bear, weakened as it is by our sins, defects, weaknesses
and temptations. But we can always begin and begin again. If we have
the necessary humility to acknowledge our downside, we can always
manage somehow. As St. Paul said, “It’s in my weakness that I am made
strong.”

            That is why there is always a need for us to pause from
time to time in order to meditate and examine ourselves whether we are
giving due attention to these dual dimension of our life.

            We have to be wary of the current trend to be taken over
by a merely impulsive and reactive lifestyle that would deprive us of
our need to pray, meditate, study and examine our conscience. These
are the ones that would keep our proper bearing as we cruise through
the vast and often tumultuous ocean of life.

            In this, everyone should help to create the proper culture
and lifestyle that is both contemplative and active. The family
especially plays a very crucial role here, since it is mainly through
it that children and the youth, the future of the world, get formed
and equipped to face the challenges of an increasingly complicated
world.

            Parents should see to it their children learn the basics
of praying, studying and working. They have to teach their children
the fundamental virtues of order, of setting the proper priorities in
life, of organizing their day well, of distinguishing between what is
essential and what is incidental, what is of absolute value and what
is simply of relative value.

            We should see to it that we are continually imbuing our
community and general culture with the proper values and virtues,
alerting the schools, parishes, etc., to do their part. This is
actually a never-ending task that would require of us a lot of
patience and creativity, never afraid to tackle whatever problems and
issues we may encounter along the way.

            As we can see, we cannot anymore remain naïve and
indifferent from this challenge. We have to take the bull by the
horns, always confident that we can do it, since in the end we have
God with us. As St. Paul would put it in his Letter to the Romans: “If
God be for us, who is against us? He that spared not even his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, how does he not also with him give us
all things?” (8,31-32)