Day 23: we all have a story

"I just got done reading a really sweet book to my kids called "The world according to Humphrey."

I could probably write a whole sermon about it.

The story is told from the perspective of a classroom hamster named Humphrey who spends a weekend with each child in the class and learns who they are on a deeper level. In some small way,  Humphrey helps each family he visits with some big problem they face.

It's of course a little overly sappy as the audience is small children but it reminded me a bit of the Sandra Bullock movie "Crash" that connected the lives of strangers in LA.

I took on a project to write a blog during lent for my church. I wanted the blog to be a community project so I've reached out to many people in the church and asked them to share something. Nearly everyone ive asked so far has agreed and I've been blessed to read each of their stories.

This world has 7,530,000,000 people. 
7 billion stories.
7 billion struggles.
7 billion triumphs.

We live out each of our narratives in the rippled waters of other peoples stories.

Each day we have an opportunity to be light.

To breathe peace.
To save space.
To connect.

Even the tadpoles in my living room are able to lift someone's day. Create joy and anticipation. And,  really,  they are amphibians and don't even have fur. Granted... they are entirely fascinating.

But the point is....
We don't have to do amazing, ambitious things to make the world a better place.
In fact, I'd argue, if we all focused our light into the dark spaces that are in our immediate reach, the world would be far less dark.

Maybe a sappy kid's book is exactly what I needed to remember how powerful small acts of kindness really can be.

Weekend goal: bring at least as much light into the world as my tadpoles.