Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I remember well our family TV as I was growing up. It was a full 19-inch General Electric (black and white). There were shows we watched as a family. There were times I got to watch alone, especially Saturday mornings when I was engrossed in things like Bugs Bunny and Mighty Mouse. For the big screen experience, we had to visit my grandparents or my aunt who sported console TV’s an amazing 25 inches in size. However, they seldom had on shows that I cared for.
Even in this day of 60-inch, high-definition TV’s, I cannot claim that my viewing pleasure is greatly enhanced over that 19-inch experience. My vision was focused on the program, and I was as fully into those 19-inch programs as any today. I saw just as much and could tune out the rest of the world just fine. The larger size has not changed the quality of programs or my ability to focus on them.
Jesus talks of faith the size of a mustard seed. Often, we associate this as a limited faith which we associate with some sort of feeling of confidence in God. But I would like us to consider the mustard seed as a focus in and of itself. It is a tiny seed that grows in an amazing fashion. The transformation from seed to plant, from seedling to full plant, and the shelter it provides birds and animals is a testament to God, the creator and sustainer of life. Focusing on something as simple and small as that seed can fill us with an amazement and wonder of God. Focus on God in the small things.
Often, we try to find God in the large things of life. We are looking for an overwhelming power that cannot be resisted. We also look all over and may be missing God before our very noses.
Look for God in the small: in the seed that grows, in the kind gesture of a friend sharing cookies, in the warmth of the sun, in the stranger that held the door for us at the store, in the family member who called, just to say “hi.” In these mustard seeds, we find God. Small as they are, we can let them fill our vision and fill our spirits. Faith the size of a mustard seed can be immensely powerful.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Martin H. Horn