Living Small

I met someone.

Saint Thérèse, 1873-1897, was a French nun who lived a little life in a little place.  And I might be hooked.
How does a 24 year old who dies of tuberculous become a saint twenty-eight years after her death?  What did she do?  Why did the Catholic Church deem her saint worthy?

Thérèse held deep passion:

I want to be a warrior, a priest, an apostle, a doctor of the Church, a martyr...I should like to die on the battlefields in defence of the Church. (Story of a Soul)

The reality?  With the exception of one trip, she never left home.  She lived her "Little Way," and no one outside her family or convent noticed or knew who she was.

One of the little things Thérèse chose for her life was happiness.

...for the love of God and my Sisters (so charitable toward me) I take care to appear happy and especially to be so...

Big passion; little living.  I may know a few things about that.

'Cuz there's so much inside this heart of mine I want to do.  Like scoopin' up kids all around this planet who are unloved, unwanted and take them home with me forever.  Like building a house for a family who huddles together under a piece of makeshift-cardboard and calls it home.  Like snatchin' up women and children that have been taken against their will to live lives they didn't want...and even the concept of trafficking people sends death down my spine and brings up fire in my heart.

But the things that fill up my days, are small...

(I opted not to share pics of scrubbing toilets or changing diapers.  You'll just have to use your imaginations.)

Passion, justice...grocery shopping, housework.  How do you reconcile your heart and your life?

Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love?  Great deeds are forbidden me.  The only way I can prove my love is by...every little sacrifice, every glance and work and the doing of the least actions for love.  (Saint Thérèse)

And all these little things may one day make up something grand.  And maybe not, but they will make up a life lived well.  And after all, love is the only thing that stays.

It doesn't matter if you are a cashier, or a trash collector, or a CEO, or a professional athlete...or a little nun in a little town who had no idea what would come of her "Little Way," so long as the small things you do are filled up with love.