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Littleness and Lowliness

In Chemistry we learn that chemical compounds are made up of small

molecules thus they can be broken down into the atoms of the elements which make

them up, and these atoms too can be broken down further into electrons, protons

and neutrons. A similar tale is told of living things in biology; living things, besides

being made up of smaller molecules, are much more complex than their chemical

counter parts; as a matter of fact chemicals are only part of their complexity and

mystery. Similarly, in modern day imagery, we have cameras that capture the

moment be it in photos or videos. Digitally speaking, the pictures captured are

stored in what we call pixels which, in lay-man-terms, are little dots that make up

the pictures and they run from the right to the left and from the top to the bottom of

a captured picture. Of these images, the smaller and the more the pixels (in number)the bigger, the clearer, the sharper and the more vivid the images produced

meaning that pictures captured by more recent devices have smaller, and more

pixels and thus they capture elaborate details that are missed by older devices.

Again in the construction of buildings, a foundation has to be dug in order for the

building to be firm and steady; for the construction of tall sky-scrapers foundations

have to be dug deep into the ground because a sky-scrapper will have to withstand

forces coming from different directions. Think of it like this: when fencing using

posts, the deeper a hole dug into the ground, the firmer a post that is erected upon

such a hole. Whereas a post that is erected upon a shallow hole will, when shaken

from right to left, be moved probably to a point of pulling it up, one erected upon a

deep hole remains firm and steady. With the intensity of wind experienced the higher

one goes, sky-scrapers have to be built to resist such forces that tend to move it to

and fro, a failure of which may result in the collapse of the sky-scrapper.

Talking in human terms now, we hear often the talk of the little ones or the

little people referring to those that are not the cream of society, that is, the rich

and famous socialites, the popular, and so on, and are thus viewed as or referred to

as the lowly. People never really think that anything much can come from them.

They are discriminated against, segregated and looked down upon; they are even

probably disgust to society. But God loves the lowly! He meets them in the

dehydrating desert of hopelessness and despair, of emptiness and worthlessness, in

the desolate wasteland of low-self-esteem and low-self-confidence, of insecurity and

fear, of poverty and even death, and from these He cares for them and keeps them

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as the apple (apples) of His eye. From their lowliness He finds a foundation upon

which he can build structures that can withstand the test of time. These structures

are built with ingenuity from the many, the multiple trying moments of their lives

which compose together to make a solid structure that cannot be shaken by the

forces which oppose them. From God they find what they missed from men: hope

and encouragement, completeness and self-worth, ample esteem and confidence,

security and fullness of life. Because of this, more than any other, more than those

that weigh less than a feather when placed on a scale, they tell with eloquence a tale

that presents a picture more vivid than any high definition camera can capture of the

Glory of God and His Majesty; a picture that is constructed by the most minute pixels

that are the littleness of their lives such littleness that captures the intricate details

missed by the bigness, so to speak, of the so called cream of society. The lowly

present themselves as the little children who Jesus Christ talked of when He said if

we are not like these we shall not see the kingdom of God; in their lifelessness they

have life not of their own but of God! Because of their emptiness, emptiness of this

world and of themselves (in the sense of not being full of themselves or proud) they

have sufficient room which becomes the accommodation provided to that which

proceeds from God.

It is upon such a foundation of lowliness that God raised up the unshakable,

unmovable, indestructible structure of the salvation of men that will not only

withstand the test of time, it will surpass time itself; it will endure for all eternity. It

is a structure that will serve as a refuge for all who reduce themselves enough, by

doing what is required, to hide in it. It is the structure built upon the lowliness of

Mary our Mother. She is a sure foundation because in Her powerlessness which in

turn was filled with power from God and thus She was made Full of Grace, when it

was announced to Her by the Angel Gabriel of the difficult will of God, difficult in the

sense that it would have cost her life, She did not hesitate and neither did She

stutter but said with certainty: I am the servant (Handmaid) of the Lord, let

whatever you have said be done to me. A servant is one who renders service and

must thus humble him or herself to those whom service is to be rendered. In thespirit of service to God and in absolute reverential fear of Him, she accepted His will

and thus bore to us the Son of God; the Word incarnate who descended from On

High, from a place of Majesty, He reduced himself to a worm, belittled Himself before

all men, who are a product of His creative work, men who in turn spat on Him, beat

Him up to a point that He was totally drained of Blood and then nailed Him on a

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cross. Yet all this was so that this creature, man, could have salvation. All this is

rooted in the lowliness, in the littleness of Mother and Son, Jesus and Mary. Even

Joseph of who little is said was lowly, a lowly carpenter humble before God. So rise

up small and insignificant, and to the Glory of God the sing the Magnificant:

My soul glorifies the Lord,

My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

He looks on His servant in Her lowliness,

Henceforth all ages will call me blessed.

The almighty works marvels for me,

Holy His name, His mercy is from age to age,

On all those who fear Him,

He put forth His arm in strength,

And scatters the proud hearted,

He casts the Mighty from their thrones,

And raises the lowly, He fills the hungry with good things

Sends the rich away empty,

He protects Israel His servant, remembering his mercy,

The mercy promised to our Fathers,

To Abraham and his sons for ever.

Dominic Thuku.

P. St. Dominic Savio.