Little Ones Surround Us!

“Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily.” – St. Francis de Sales, The Wisdom of the Saints

That line arrived this morning in the Dynamic Catholic Daily Reflection, and it stopped me cold. We keep waiting for the big moment, the grand gesture, the dramatic chance to prove our faith. Meanwhile the day is already packed with little ones: a kind word, a returned call, a quiet prayer, a hand on a shaking shoulder.

Recovery runs on those little ones. Not fireworks. Practice.

The quality of faith

Today’s reading in Daily Reflections is titled “THE QUALITY OF FAITH,” and it quotes Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (p. 32): “This . . . has to do with the quality of faith. . . . In no deep or meaningful sense had we ever taken stock of ourselves. . . . We had not even prayed rightly! We had always said, ‘Grant me my wishes’ instead of ‘Thy will be done.’”

That hits. Early on, a lot of us treat God like a vending machine. We put in a prayer and expect the outcome we want. When the candy doesn’t drop, we kick the machine.

Real faith is different. It says, “Thy will be done,” and then it gets up and does the next right thing. Keep It Simple puts the same truth in Grapevine language this morning: “Acceptance and faith are capable of producing 100% sobriety.” Not perfection. Faith that shows up in the small stuff.

Fear out, faith in

Twenty-Four Hours a Day names the old master many of us lived under: “I have lost much of my fear. It used to control me; it was my master. It paralyzed my efforts. Fear always got me down. It made me an introvert, an ingrown person. When fear was replaced by faith, I got well. Have I lost some of my fears?”

Fear shrinks the day. Faith opens it.

Scripture says it with power: “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV). Power for the hard conversation. Love for the person who frustrates us. Self-control for the urge that still whispers. That is daily faith, not a once-a-year mountaintop.

The Meditation on the same page reminds us that God can use every human being as a channel for divine love and power. The Prayer is simple: be a channel for Divine Love. Little channel, big God. Enough for today!

Motives over results

Courage to Change (an Al-Anon daily reader shared in Daily Ponderables) makes a sharp point this morning: sometimes what we do is less important than why we do it. When we focus on managing other people, even “helpful” actions can become control. The better path is to act because it seems right for us and leave the results with God.

That is “Thy will be done” in street clothes. Motives matter. Results are not always ours to force.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, in today’s Thought for Today from Daily Ponderables, said it another way: “One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.” We do not need every grand occasion. A few honest shells, chosen with care, beat a bucket of noise every time.

Ask, then notice who is next to you

Just for Today for November 5, “God’s Guidance,” quotes the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text: “Our Higher power is accessible to us at all times. We receive guidance when we ask for knowledge of God’s will for us.” Ask. Then listen. Then move.

Often, the answer sits in the next chair.

A March 1991 Grapevine piece titled “Who’s Sitting Next to You?” makes that case without needing a long quote. The heart of it is simple: notice the stranger in the recovery community. Offer a welcome. Say hello. Ask a name. Mutual support is not a theory. It is the person next to you who may be scared, new, or quietly falling apart.

I wrote about stepping out of the center in One Among Many, and about showing up for others in Fellowship. The little ones include the people right beside us. In Recovery Thinking, I put it this way: “Service is the price, a small price for the return! Life is good!!!” That is still true after more than 40 years in human services since 1983. The return on a small kindness is huge.

Your Daily Reprieve also shared Bill W. from a January 1955 Grapevine: after alcohol, the next things to sacrifice were big-shot-ism, self-pity, anger, and the prestige contest. Personal responsibility grows in those little daily surrenders.

Five little ones to practice today

1. Pray “Thy will be done” before “Grant me my wishes.” Say it out loud once. Mean it as much as you can.
2. Replace one fear with one faithful action. Make the call. Walk into the room. Ask for help. In Success-Full, I wrote, “No action, no change, know action, know change!”
3. Check your motive on one decision. Am I doing this because it is right for me, or to manage somebody else?
4. Notice who is sitting next to you. Welcome one person in your mutual support circle. Name, smile, short conversation.
5. Do one small act of service. Hold a door. Share a reading. Send a text of encouragement. Little ones count!

The little ones are the path

We do not have to wait for a great occasion. They surround us already. Quality of faith over quantity of wishes. Fear traded for power, love, and self-control. Motives cleaned up. Guidance asked for. People noticed.

Collect a few beautiful shells today. Live the little ones. Life is GOOOOOOOD!!!

Here’s my question for you: Which little occasion for faith is sitting right in front of you today, and will you take it?

Go, Go, Go… Dan 🙂

Books quoted in this post:

• Daily Reflections: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0916856372?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0916856291?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• Keep It Simple: Daily Meditations for Twelve-Step Beginnings and Renewal: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0894866257?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• Twenty-Four Hours a Day: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0894860127?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• ESV Holy Bible: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433503832?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• Courage to Change: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0910034796?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• Just for Today: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1557761515?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• Recovery Thinking, 90-Days to Change Your Life!: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1467965359?tag=happyrecove0e-20
• Success-Full, Living Life with Purpose: Recovery Mode: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CL5BQR7J?tag=happyrecove0e-20

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

A note on anonymity: Although I quote Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Al-Anon literature here, nothing in this post should be taken to imply my membership in any specific mutual support group, in keeping with Tradition Eleven.

—

Reflection note: I wrote this from my own daily readings. Quotes belong to their original authors and sources (St. Francis de Sales via the Dynamic Catholic Daily Reflection, November 5; Daily Reflections, November 5, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, quoting Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 32, via Daily Ponderables and Your Daily Reprieve; Keep It Simple, November 5, Hazelden, including the Grapevine line on acceptance and faith; Twenty-Four Hours a Day, November 5, Hazelden; Courage to Change, Al-Anon, via Daily Ponderables; Anne Morrow Lindbergh via Daily Ponderables Thought for Today; Just for Today, November 5, Narcotics Anonymous, quoting the Basic Text; Grapevine, “Who’s Sitting Next to You?”, March 1991, summarized; Bill W., Grapevine, January 1955, via Your Daily Reprieve; 2 Timothy 1:7, English Standard Version; Recovery Thinking; Success-Full). I used AI to help organize it and reviewed it before posting.