Even as men look at and are awed by the grandeur and vastness of the universe, they begin thinking that size matters, that big is better. Better then becomes synonymous with better. And men just simply start wanting more and more. Thus, the world gets organized around ever increasing consumption that is not sustainable. It is a mind-set of consumption and materialism that is not sustainable. It is the mind-set that gave rise to the one-sided bail-out of big financial institutions (“too big to fail”) to the detriment of millions of small homeowners.
Yet, small is beautiful. A writer once wrote, “Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful.” For example, human wellness is maintained by small doses of essential micro nutrients. The Big Bang that gave rise to the universe started literally with a tiny spark. The power of the stars is packed within a tiniest atom.
Today is the feast day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. She never left her convent and spent most of her life doing seemingly small and insignificant things. She spent most of her time on her knees in prayer, never venturing too far nor preaching abroad to convert the heathens. Yet, she has been declared a Patroness of the Missions. She spent her time scrubbing tiles and cleaning kitchen floors, never writing theological tracts nor authoring learned tomes. Yet, she has been declared a Doctor of the Church. She simply did small things in a grand fashion – the Minimax Formula (minima maxime facere – To do the smallest things in the best way possible.)