UNNOTICED

 I'm still being challenged and motivated by Kim's sermon to introduce this year's Ministries of the Heart several weeks ago. Kim reminded us that it's the little things that build the Kingdom of God here on earth. The more I pondered that, the more I realized that most of the good that will be done today, as every day, will be small gestures that will go unnoticed. Most of our attention will be given to things that don't matter ultimately.

Joshua Bell, a world-renowned violinist, participated in an experiment. The experiment was to see what would happen if a world-class artist stood on the street and performed? Would anyone notice?

On January 12 at 7:51 a.m. in the middle of the morning rush hour in Washington, D.C., Bell played for 43 minutes on a Stradivarius violin while 1,097 people passed by.

The result? Only a handful stopped. No one applauded. His net haul was $32.17. Yes, some people threw in a few pennies for this man who earns $1,000 a minute on concert stages throughout the world. Recently he was awarded the Avery Fisher prize of $75,000 as the best classical musician in America. The same musician who went unnoticed in our nation's capitol.

Mother Theresa's work went unnoticed for years. When we finally stopped to listen, (as Kime reminds us), we heard her say: "There are no 'big things' to be accomplished in life, but 'small things done with great love.'

We don't have to dream about doing some great thing for God with our life. In Ministries for the Heart, 2007, we each are being challenged to "feed the hope meter" with small, perhaps unnoticed acts "done with great love." May we see each opportunity to do a small act with great love as a step in our faith journey, not an obligation we must meet.

One of the few things I know in Life is this: The little things we do for good with great love that often go unnoticed are bringing the reign of God here on earth in a big way.