859th Week: Each Small Act Matters

I’ve mentioned a number of times that I post a daily inspirational quote and photograph of our beautiful earth in two places. One is the Devadana Sanctuary Facebook page and the other is on the Devadana Sanctuary side of my Portal to Multidimensional Living. I’ve done this for a number of years now, as the process of choosing the quotation and photograph each day has become a form of meditation for me.

Two recent quotes, one I posted through Devadana Sanctuary, the other posted by someone else on Facebook, touched into a practice that I engage in daily and I wanted to share it with you at this time of the ending of one year, one cycle, and the beginning of the new. First, here are two quotations that touch on what I want to share in this weekly practice:

“I do not think that it is naïve to think that it is the tiny, particular acts of love and joy which are going to swing the balance.”  ~ Madeleine L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet

“We live at a time when the greatest form of courage is to act as if our lives made a difference.” 
~ William Sullivan, The Secret of the Inca

As you read these quotations, I invite you to take some time to notice your response to them. For example, notice what happens in your body as you sit with the words and the meanings they touch in you. Take time with each quotation and notice if and how they touch your thoughts and feelings. 

There is a form of meditation called “contemplation” that my grandmother taught me when I was young. It involves taking a word or an idea and noticing everything that arises in relation to it—thoughts, feelings, physical sensations. Once all associations have come and gone, there is an opportunity to experience something new, perhaps something unexpected, as you sit quietly and allow the words to evoke what is perhaps a deeper response in you.

And so, this is my invitation for this week’s practice, to take the two quotations above and contemplate what they touch in you. A key to this practice is to allow yourself enough time to have an opportunity to notice what spontaneously arises as you sit with the words and simply be present with them.

Then, and this is the primary intention behind this practice, notice what small acts of love, joy, kindness, compassion, support, or any other expression naturally arise in your actions on any given day. It is these small acts that add up to a quality of life that affirms that we are part of a larger community and that our presence and actions matter, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant they may seem.

As with all these practices, please remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion and to pat gently on the head any judgments that may arise. Also, be sure to allow for any mixed feelings that show up as you explore this practice. Within a context of wholeness, there is room for every aspect of your being. As you know, having mixed feelings doesn’t mean you have to act on them, but it is a gift to yourself to be able to be aware of them.