麻豆约拍

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Steve Williams

Good morning.

It's remarkable just how much damage one small drop of water can inflict. In fact, one steady but hidden drop of water caused so much damage to my bookshelves a few weeks ago that my plumber said, in fifty four years of work, he'd never seen anything like it. Water had dripped from inside the bookshelf and entered within the pages of each book, so that they had swollen from within, jammed together very tightly, and couldn't be moved except with the brute force of a crow-bar. Yet their spines had looked no different, and, until I'd tried to move them, there'd been no sign of anything wrong.

From time to time, I had actually heard the odd dripping noise - but thought nothing of it.

Many of Jesus' parables follow the Jewish tradition of drawing attention to the small but decisive moments of life, like the hidden drop of water, that carry within them the power to hurt or to heal., Moments of joyful obedience like the planting of a tiny mustard seed that grows into a great tree, or like a small amount of yeast that works its way through some dough. But there are other small situations that hurt, like the drop of water that's ignored - and it's important to address them: to seek reconciliation, forgiveness, to not let roots of bitterness grow, and be careful with even the least of our words.

God of love, show us the small but decisive opportunities we have to care, forgive and heal today. Help us to respond to needs around us and within - and keep us safe in the way you have set before us, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.