“Just as the rivers are much less numerous than the underground streams, so the idealism that is visible is minor compared to what men and women carry in their hearts, unreleased and scarcely released. Mankind is waiting and longing for those who can accomplish the task of untying what is knotted and bringing the underground waters to the surface.” —Albert Schweitzer
In our quiet moments, have we ever asked ourselves, “Is there something of significance I am to accomplish with my life?”
This seems to be a common thought; it was gleaned from conversations over the years with people who are aspiring to put more service into their lives. It would seem to arise out of a deep urge to make our lives meaningful and purposeful.
Helen Keller said, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” For most of us it is the opportunity to do small things in great ways, rather than to accomplish one great purpose, that characterizes our lives. In reflecting back on the significant things in their lives, people who are terminally ill remember the small things they did, like putting that extra “something” in the lunchbox, a kind remark, or a smile that clearly added a positive note to someone’s life. It isn’t great deeds that are recalled, but small ones done with great love.
Rather than be discouraged by the hunger, pain, and suffering in the world, we can allow these conditions to stimulate us to reach deep within, and then respond with compassion—wherever we are. When we do the little things daily with love and as if they were great and noble deeds, we pass along compassion and kindness—a powerful force for change in the world, and part of the “growing up” process of humankind.
When individuals and groups consciously choose to fill their lives with service to others, a groundswell of kindness forms. Such groundswells touch far more lives than we can see, because kindness begets kindness and spreads in a ripple effect throughout a community. When small acts are performed as if they were great and noble deeds, the world is changed.
So what would happen, then, if each of us began to view our every thought, word and deed as if it were great and noble, one capable of transforming the world? What impact might our lives have, and what might we remember one day as we look back and review the times of our lives?
The preceding essay was written by Christa Thornburg, a member of the teaching faculty of the Center for Purposeful Living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. CPL is a non-profit service-learning organization dedicated to helping people discover meaning and purpose in their lives and acquire the skills and tools to achieve that purpose. It offers a one-year, residential, full-scholarship program for people who are looking to make a difference in their lives and the world and who are ready to take the next step on their path of discovery and service. For further information, go to its website at www.purposeful.org or contact Joanna White at
or (336) 761-8745.
