Finding God in All the Little Things

"Little things done out of love are those that charm the Heart of Christ… On the contrary, the most brilliant deeds, when done without love, are but nothingness." St. Theresa of Lisieux

When I arrived to the Spiritual Exercises, I had no expectations. In my three previous retreats, I had completely different experiences. I felt God's presence in different ways and at different times. The messages were similar but in those occasions I was going through some difficult times in my life so I was in a lot of turmoil.

This time I arrived with a lot of peace, a hopeful heart, an open mind and ready to be surprised. And boy, did He surprise me. On the very first night of the retreat, as we were led in prayer by the spiritual director, I felt Him in the wind. We were standing by the bay and I clearly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was a stirring that began at the top of my head and traveled all the way down to the sole of my feet. I can count with my fingers how many times I've felt this stirring of the Spirit. The first times, I didn't know what it meant. It had happened either while I was in prayer or talking to a priest. I asked the priest what it meant and He told me that it was the Spirit of the Lord manifesting His presence. I was in awe that I had felt it so early in the weekend. I felt such joy and such peace. I knew it was going to be a great retreat.

The following morning I went into the chapel to pray. I praised God and I thanked Him for allowing me to feel His presence the previous night. As I walked out of the chapel, I looked towards the bay and I saw a dolphin. At first I thought it was my imagination. I have never seen a dolphin on the east coast and much less in the bay area. I walked slowly towards the water and there it was, a dolphin in all its beauty. I stayed looking towards the water, watching the dolphin emerge and submerge every few minutes. And I felt incredible joy because I knew this was a sign from God.

Dolphins and rainbows have always had a special meaning for me. Every time I'm going through a difficult time in my life, God sends me a rainbow or a dolphin. In my darkest hour, He sent me both. It happened six years ago. I was in Siesta Key with my family. We were facing a major crisis. I sat at the beach one day, looking towards the horizon, asking God to help us, feeling like we were hanging by a thread and when I looked at the heavens, I saw the most beautiful rainbow. And underneath the arch of the rainbow, there was a cloud in the distinct shape of a dolphin. I was in awe but He was not done. As I looked towards the water, there was a school of dolphins swimming in the distance. I knew this could not be a coincidence. This had God written all over it. It was clearly a God-incidence. It was God's sign to me that everything was going to be alright. And it was. The storm passed and the sun came out once again for my family.

Therefore, when I saw the dolphin swimming in the bay, I knew that it was God's way to manifest Himself to me. He was allowing me to find Him in a dolphin. But He also had a message for me in the dolphin. I had been meditating as to what was my purpose in life. And God gave me the answer in the dolphin. Just like a dolphin brings joy and love to anyone who sees it, my purpose in life is to bring joy and love to others by spreading God's love.

And how do I do this? How can I spread His message of love to the whole world? Well, God doesn't want me to spread His message to the whole world. He only needs me to share it with my family, with my friends, with my neighbors, with my community of faith...

We don't know much about Jesus during the first thirty years of His life. We meet Him at His birth, at the presentation in the Temple and when they run away to Egypt. Then we get a glimpse of the boy when He's twelve years old, gets lost and Mary and Joseph find Him in the temple talking to the teachers. And then we don't hear anything else until He begins his public ministry at the age of thirty. What did He do during these thirty years? He led a simple life. He was a regular human being who worked with His father as a carpenter, He was a shepherd to His sheep, He helped His mother on her household chores and He did what every young man of His age did in His town. Even though we don't hear about this time of His life in the Bible, Jesus in His unique way is teaching us to find Him in all the little things that make up our everyday life.

Many times we complain about our boring lives. We do the same thing day in and day out. We get up, have breakfast, go to work, do groceries, cook, do the dishes, do laundry, take care of the kids, spend time with the spouse and the next day we have to do the same thing all over again. Our life has become a routine and we are bored to tears. We need some excitement in our lives. Well, Jesus opened my eyes this past weekend to realize that for thirty years He was a regular person just like me with a daily routine that was the same every day. In His time there was no television, no microwave, no computers, no electricity... They worked from sunrise to sunset doing all the daily chores that we complain about when today they are as simple as can be because we have washing machines and dryers and dishwashers to simplify our lives. We have cars to take us to the grocery store. They had to walk or ride on a donkey. And certainly, they did not have a Publix where they could find everything they needed. They had to bake their own bread, grow their own vegetables, catch a fish or kill a chicken... And this was God's Son. He lived a simple, humble life for thirty years without power or popularity.

We need to find God in all the little things that make up our daily lives. In the chores that we do around the house, in our jobs, in our daily routines, in all the traffic lights, in the food we prepare to feed our family, in the laundry... God needs us to spread His love in our own little world. He doesn't need us to do great things. As St. Theresa taught us, "we just need to do all the little things with great love." One little thing done with great love is more important than doing something big with pride and arrogance.