“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” Dalai Lama
Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Luke 19:1-10
“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Comment: Zacchaeus was small in stature, Luke writes. How small? We don’t know. But we all know that when we “feel small,” we try to compensate for it somehow (like becoming a wealthy tax collector). God liberates us from that feeling of smallness.
Dear God, we are sometimes guided by the wrong perceptions of ourselves, unaware of our attempts to cover our presumed deficiencies. You accept us as we are, and you lead us beyond the limitations we have created for ourselves. Help us to remember that in every task and every project before us this week. Amen.