The Small Things

My brother has a grass landing strip on the farm that he uses when he flies his plane. It is about a mile up and back and always nicely mowed. I walk there most mornings with my dog, Buddy. 

There are lots of folks in the working world -- corporate and academia -- who advocate for seeing the “big picture,” and I suppose that is often good advice. Those who are “down in the weeds” can get so caught up in the details that they often miss the important things. I don’t disagree with that view. 

But walking the runway gives me a different perspective. Yes, there is the big picture – golden morning sun, big beautiful blue sky, green bean fields row upon row. But there are also the small things, down in the weeds. There are hundreds of tiny spider webs draped on the grass. They sparkle in the dew like silk snowflakes. Most of them are less than an inch or two in size, and when the sun is high in the sky, they melt away. But in the early morning, there they are, some upright like little sails, some like tiny bowls, and some draped haphazardly, flung on blades of grass. And there are hundreds of little unseen creatures that made these beautiful webs. What do they catch in them? I don’t know, but it must be enough to sustain them. 

And there are also tiny, tiny flowers deep in the mown grass. Their blossoms are almost too small to be noticed.  Do they set seed now in preparation for next summer? Do the bees come to them? I don’t know that either. 

But I do know that there is such beauty in the world, all around – overhead and underfoot – some of it grand and glorious, and some of it tiny and precious. Thanks be to God!