Holger’s weblog

Little things that matter

February 6th, 2006

I discovered this wonderful story the other day, when I was browsing through a couple of christian blogs. In short, it’s about a guy who came to help another boy at school, someone he would have never, under normal circumstances, even talked to, much less been friends with. But this one day, he saw the pain in the boy’s eyes when he was being bullied by a few others. Over the course of the next years, they became best friends and in his graduation speech at the end of their highschool time together, the boy talked about the day they first met. To the amazement of everyone, including his friend, he revealed that he had planned to commit suicide that weekend – a little friendly gesture from someone he barely knew, but who noticed that he was hurting, saved him.

The conclusion of the article really struck me: “Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life. For better or for worse.” At first I thought “wow, I could have been that guy”. Of course, I do see the pain in peoples’ eyes. Sometimes I choose to do seomthing about it. More often than that, I probably don’t. And I have to ask myself, how often have my small gestures changed someones life… but for worse?

It’s really true… often it’s not the big things that really make a difference, not the great and noble gestures, but the little things, the ones you hardly think of. The things you hardly notice when you do them – but to someone else, they can mean the world. For better or for worse. A friendly nod, a smile when you pass someone on the street – maybe insignificant to you, but signalling “you have been noticed, you are somebody” to a person unsure of himself. And in much the same way, you can easily send a quick “you are worthless to me” signal to someone. I wish we’d all think a little bit more about our actions, even in the little things. Jesus was all about the small gestures… if we want to become more like Him, maybe we should, too.

Technorati : Jesus, actions, gestures, suicide

Entry Filed under: Christian Living