DOING A GREAT WORK

Not long ago, as my grandson was working on a Lego project with single-minded passion, he paused and said to me, “I am doing a great work, Hammy” – and I said to myself, Yes you are, and so is everything. The universe itself is an endless system of great works, from the falling of a single snowflake to the movements of the far-flung stars. These words I’m writing are doing the great work of wrapping thoughts like gifts to give away, and the cars I hear on the nearby highway are heading somewhere on great missions, from finding a place to eat to saving a loved one’s life. We’re all engaged in grand enterprises. The smallest of our thoughts, if we only realized it, is serious business, and typing a tiny word is a major miracle. It’s a great work to give a greeting to someone, or to notice the sunshine on a sidewalk, or to set one foot in front of another, or to help hundreds of Lego pieces fit perfectly together.