“Let’s Get Small”

Last updated on: March 23, 2025 at 6:20 pm by Fred Wooden

“Let’s Get Small” 2025-03-23T18:20:10-04:00 Fred Wooden

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If you are old enough, you may remember a young Steve Martin whose routine included the phrase, “Let’s get small!” So odd was this that it naturally got laughs. But for Pilgrim Life it is the very core and purpose.

Get Small is the fifth and last quality of Pilgrim Life. We started with “Get Out,” and went on to “Get Dirty,” “Get Lost,” and “Get Stupid.” Those were things that need to happen in order to “Get Small.”

By small, I mean that sensation of being overwhelmed in a good way. Think of a place like the Grand Canyon or watching an eclipse. You felt quite small but also quite alive. Such moments are akin to the Hebrew prophet Isaiah’s vision, or the Transfiguration in the gospels. No question that the prophet Muhammed (pbuh) felt small when hearing the voice of Allah.

The pilgrim heads toward a destination hoping for such an experience. Sometimes it happens. But those who live the Pilgrim Life know they can come any time. In fact, many a pilgrim will say that the most ‘religious’ moment, they moment they felt small, came along the path not at the end.

It could be a chance meeting with a fellow pilgrim, who, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, find their hearts strangely warmed. I spent a lovely day with Celine, who pointed out the snail crossing the road to keep me from crushing it. It could be a shooting star, a bird, a rusted plow in a field, almost anything.

For me, animals have been givers of smallness. Along my way in France last fall I stood by a corral with a horse. Wanting a picture, I stood by the fence and suddenly found it nuzzling my cheek. Seeing cobwebs in the morning sunlight, their silk shimmering with dew, made me stop. Once it was the skeleton of a dog that startled me and said ‘memento mori.’

For the Time Being,' Part 1 | The Gad ... Those who seek the pilgrim life know that the journey is but training, “practicing the scales of rejoicing,” to quote Auden, so that we might make the “leap into transcendence” as Adrienne Rich said. We walk to remember our smallness, so that we might be able to get small at a moment’s notice.

My life is populated by a grandchild of 3.5 years. Each visit he reminds me that my house with all its ordinary stuff is wonder-ful, full of things that make him wonder. What seems to me trivial are thrilling. He is small and a teacher of smallness. Maybe that is what Jesus meant by being as a child.

Soon I shall be back on the trail, much in need of practice being small. Do not expect further reports, though. This post not only concludes my five aspects or traits of living the pilgrim life, it is the conclusion of the blog itself.

Why am I quitting? Because this format doesn’t suit my brain. I noticed that I was dawdling and forgetting mor

e and more. Topics were harder to create. I was repeating myself. Unless I can do this eagerly, with a child’s wonder, I should stop.

Why am I quitting? Because this format doesn’t suit my brain. I noticed that I was dawdling and forgetting morand more. Topics were harder to create. I was repeating myself. Unless I can do this eagerly, with a child’s wonder, I should stop.

My plans include a novel halfway done, and assembling booklength versions of my nine journeys. Two are available on Kindle. That means seven more could happen.

Thank you for coming this far. May we meet face to face sometime, somewhere on the pilgrim path.

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About W. Frederick Wooden

Fred has led many lives - composer, pastor, pilgrim, political candidate, newspaper columnist, radio host, father and spouse. They have taken him from boyhood in Maryland to study in Missouri and Illinois, work in Massachusets, Austin Texas, Brooklyn NY and Grand Rapids Michigan. He has explored Mexico, New Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Turkey, India, China, Japan and Europe. Those who have read his travel accounts often say, "I feel like I am actually with you as you go." You can read more about the author here.

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