Article February 15, 2010 Issue

QUIET ACTS OF LOVE

MONICA KARAL

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

SHOVEL IN HAND, I was breaking up the ice on my neighbor's front walkway and clearing it away, after freezing rain had coated our streets and sidewalks with sheet ice. I had gladly offered to take care of her house while she vacationed in a warm spot down south, but I must say I hadn't bargained for this ice-clearing job.

I put down my shovel and lifted my thought for inspiration. The idea came to me that all around the world, people are engaged in quiet everyday tasks done with humble persistence. Taken together they constitute the very fabric of life. Every time a parent gets up in the night to comfort a crying child, every time a garbage collector removes the trash, every time a farmer puts in a long day in the fields, he or she is engaged in acts of patience, courage, and perseverance that help others move forward.

I felt a deep connection with all this purposeful activity. I sensed that we're all somehow linked by these acts of love, and that we're working together within the deeper rhythm and purpose of Spirit, in a universal unfoldment of orderliness, well-being, harmony, progress, satisfaction, affection. We're meeting needs, accomplishing small goals, and bringing larger goals within closer reach. I saw that each constructive act is an individual expression of good, and that their joint momentum promotes collective good.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON

ONE INTELLIGENT RESOURCE