The Little Things

Last updated on: March 28, 2017 at 10:06 pm by Chase Padusniak

The Little Things 2017-03-28T22:06:24-04:00 Chase Padusniak

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The Four Times of Day: Morning (1757) by Claude-Joseph Vernet. Source: Wikimedia, Creative Commons License.

There’s a song from a show from my youth, Hey Arnold, called “The Simple Things.” The premise is simple: happiness is predicated upon the tiny things that make life worth living, e.g. “French-fried onion rings.”

This is a truism, of course, at least when it comes to secular life. But what about with regard to the life of the spirit?

Recently, and perhaps fittingly for Lent, I’ve been a bit down. Depressed seems a bit strong, maybe even a bit clinical, but certainly spiritually depressed—distant from God. Prayer feels like the tilling of an exhausted soil, scratching and raking harder and harder simply exhausts the one trying so much until he is himself like the dirt beneath his feet.

I’m still, to an extent, struggling, but, it occurred to me recently: what if, instead of forcing the soil, I might not start with smaller tasks? I can thank God for every step I take, for the fact that I wake up in the morning, for His mercy in keeping my friends around, for the birds I see on trees walking to class, for the fact that I have the energy to do my work, for bathroom breaks and the cold (and a bit annoying) wind on my face, and, yes, perhaps, even for this spiritual darkness, which itself yields fruit.

Giving thanks for even the smallest things is a way of cultivating dependence upon God. When we look at the big picture, it’s easy to lose hope; we see a world torn asunder, huge problems in our own lives, death, devastation, the spiritual vacuum that is contemporary political discourse. Starting there, then, starting by scratching at a barren soil with all one’s might, is a recipe for disaster.

But the little things, those tiny blessings, in truth, the very fabric of life: these are like nitrates finding rest in an exhausted soil, like the first sip of coffee at 5 AM; recognizing our dependence on these gifts is recognizing our dependence on God, who sustains us through them. And, in time, strong once more, we learn to lift our eyes heavenward, able to pray with strength, a strength gleaned from the microscopic blessings embedded in everyday life.

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