Little By Little

A service titled ‘Little by Little’, led by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall, with readings given by Mussy Marcus and Chloë Harewood, and music from George Ireland.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 1:59

As the world shifts beneath us, we seek steadiness, the unwavering support of community, the principled guidance of wise teachings, the faithful turning of the season. We seek within ourselves and in one another a devotion to all that is true, all that is just, all that is beautiful. We gather here to re-ground ourselves and to reorient towards our heart's calling. Here we hold on to what is good, what we believe, and what we must do. So with resolute and compassionate hearts. Welcome to everyone tuning in from far and wide via Zoom or indeed tuning in on YouTube at a later date. For anyone who doesn't know me, my name is Jane Blackall and I am minister with Kensington Unitarian. This morning's service is titled Little by Little. In the coming hour, we'll reflect on the value of modest, consistent actions in bringing about positive change. Today's service, in fact, is inspired by this book that I read recently and enjoyed very much How a Little Becomes a Lot The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life by Eric Zimmer. He's a host of a popular podcast called The One You Feed and he draws on lots of interesting influences, including Zam Buddhism. He has a background in recovery from addiction, which I think informs a lot of the insights that he shares. I put a quote from Zimmer on the front of the order of service today. No matter where we find ourselves, whether life feels generous or stripped bare, there's always some small step available to us. Not always the one we want. Not always the one that changes everything. But something a movement towards meaning. Some of us are given more room, more freedom, more choices. Others fewer. But even in the narrowest of places a choice still waits. Small positive steps worth taking. Choices worth making. It's a ritual that connects us with Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists the world over. And it reminds us of that proudly progressive religious tradition of which this gathering is part. And for the futures that we're brave enough to write. In this gathering, we honour the courage it takes to live openly, the softness that sustains us, and the joy and power that grow when we gather. As the chalice glows, may we feel steadiness rising in us and may we trust in our becoming a messy, radiant collective unfolding as we persistently and faithfully claim our calling and make choices that change our world for the better day by day. I've picked the most singable songs I could. Let's give it our best. Our first hymn today is on your hymn sheet, Children of a Bright Tomorrow. The words will be up on screen if you're on Zoom. Feel free to stand or sit as you prefer. Children of a Bright Tomorrow. You might want to adjust your position or close your eyes, adopt a posture that helps you to feel more prayerful and centered, that helps you get into the right state of body and mind for us to be fully present to ourselves, to each other, and to that which lies within us and beyond us. We turn our full attention to you, the light within and without, as we tune into the depths of this life, and the greater wisdom to which and through which we are all intimately connected.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

Be with us now as we allow ourselves to drop into the silence and the stillness at the very centre of our being. Remembering that today and always the precious life we have and hold is to us a mystery.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

May we this day be reminded of the responsibilities we carry not so that we may be intimidated or overwhelmed, but so that we may be true to them, so that we may be faithful in carrying them forward. May we this day maintain a sense of perspective, remembering who we are, engaging the tasks at hand, but understanding our own limitations, our own shortcomings, forgiving ourselves and others when we fall short of perfection. May we this day be inspired, filled with new breath, new enthusiasm, ready to see fresh possibilities, unnoticed avenues for fruitful action and resolution. And may we this day remember all those virtues that bless our lives and bless the lives of others, the virtues of caring and concern, truthfulness and integrity, charity, good work and persistence. Remembering that this world may yet be made a little more fair, more just, more equitable by our humble efforts as we stand up to be counted when it matters, and live according to our faith. And in a few moments of quietness now, let us seek a higher perspective, a longer view, shifting our awareness ever outward in circles of concern. Let us bring to mind all those we know to be struggling this day, and that might include ourselves, perhaps friends and family that we hold dear, our neighbours and community, and others all around the world that we've only heard about on the news. Our hopes and our fears, our beauty and our brokenness. And we call on you for insight, healing and renewal. As we look forward now to the coming week, help us to live well each day and be our best.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

He writes, It's easy to overlook the significance of small actions and small beginnings, yet Jesus taught us profound spiritual lessons about how even the smallest seeds can lead to extraordinary outcomes. In the Gospel of Mark, he likens the kingdom of God to a mustard seed. The parable of the mustard seed reminds us how small steps of faith can result in incredible growth and transformation. Jesus said, To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed, which when it is sown on the ground is smaller than all the seeds on earth. But when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out large branches so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade. This parable of the mustard seed illustrates that even the smallest act of faith can lead can yield extraordinary results. The mustard seed starts small but grows into a magnificent tree, representing how the kingdom of God expands through seemingly insignificant beginnings. Small, consistent actions can lead to significant changes over time. Want to grow spiritually, start small. Begin with brief daily prayers or readings. These small acts of faith build momentum for deeper spiritual growth. Want to make an impact, take small steps. A single act of kindness or encouragement can ripple outward, influencing others and expanding the reach of the kingdom of God. When you plant a small seed of kindness or faith, it inspires others, creating a chain reaction of positive change. The parable of the mustard seed reminds us that no action in the kingdom of God is too small to make a difference. Small acts of faith can lead to profound spiritual transformation. Be mindful of your thoughts, words, and actions as they shape your habits, character, and ultimately your destiny. Small beginnings require patience and perseverance. Seeds don't grow into trees overnight, and our efforts in the kingdom of God take time to bear fruit. Galatians 6, verse 9 reminds us, let us not become wary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Ask God what one small step can I take today to grow in faith? And remember, Zechariah 4, verse 10, do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. By embracing small beginnings, we allow God to multiply our efforts and turn our seeds of faith into trees of blessing.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

We're going to sing again now. The second hymn is also on your hymn sheet, a recent favorite, Who is my neighbour?

SPEAKER_00 21:23

The story of Mountain Man, as told in Eric Zimmer's How a Little Becomes a Lot. Dashtraf Manji had a hammer, a chisel, and a mountain of grief. His wife, Falguni, hadn't died because of the fall that injured her. She had died because the nearest doctor was 90 kilometres away by the one narrow, rocky path that wound its way around the steep ridge that divided their village in India from its neighbours. If he had only been able to travel straight across the ridge, Dashraf knew he could have gotten her to the doctor in time. As it was, he had to live with the memory of Falcony leaving him on the way as he sped along the circuitous path for help. In his grief, Dashraf could have chosen to do nothing. He did not. He walked up to the steep rock face of the ridge at the end of town through which no road ran and started hammering. Lunatic! People hissed and murmured and yelled straight at Dashraf. What did he think he was doing? Dig into Nepal. Anything else would be a better use of his time. It's not like he could single-handedly make a path through a foothill of the Himalayas. He must be mad with grief. Dashraf didn't mind. Every day he came back and hammered a few more centimetres. Weeks passed, then months, then years. The people who had mocked him began bringing him food, buying him new tools. When the old hammer and chisel wore out, eventually everyone understood what at first only he had seen. Twenty-two years after he began hammering at a wall of rock, Dashgraf had carved a path straight through it. His road was 110 meters long, 7.7 metres deep in places, and 9.1 meters wide. It shortened the distance to the next town from 55 to 15 kilometres and transformed the life of his village. He became famous across India as mountain man and lived out his days, knowing that the next time a loved one needed to get to the doctor quickly, they could. Little by little, a man moved a mountain. And as incredible as his story is, he is far from alone.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Fascinating. So we're moving into a time of meditation now. And to take us into the stillness, once again I'm going to share a poem by Rosemary Watola Trommer. It's titled In the Steps of RBG. All will become clear. The poem applies this principle of little by little to the often frustrating process of working towards social change, making the world a better place. And it encourages us to persist in doing the next right thing, as small as it may be. After the poem, we'll hold a few minutes of shared silence, which will end with the sound of a bell, and then we're going to hear some more music for meditation. So do what you need to do to get comfortable. You might want to put your feet flat on the floor, you might want to put down anything you don't need to hold. And the words are just an offering. Feel free to use this time to meditate in your own way. So the poem opens with a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the RBG of the title. Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. So let me take one step right now, one step toward respect. And give me strength to take another toward clarity. And though my feet may feel like stones, let me take another step toward justice, and another toward equity, and another toward truth. And though my legs may feel leaden and slow, though someone else may step on my toes, may I inch toward forgiveness. May every step be toward a bridge. Enough divisiveness. And as I go, may I find joy in the stepping, grace in the edging toward great change. But if there's little joy, let me step anyway. Then take another step. And another and another. He says this, if you remember one thing from this book, let this Tanzanian proverb be it, little by little, a little becomes a lot. You've heard some version of this idea, likely many times. Rome wasn't built in a day, slow and steady wins the race. You eat an elephant one bite at a time. And yet when we attempt change in our own lives, we can't help hoping for faster results. The silver bullet, the epiphany, the makeover montage, the superhero glow-up. Rapid transformation makes for high drama and good marketing. Get quick, get rich quick, slim down fast, change your life with one call today. Our natural desire for things to be easy nudges us towards these promises. And when they don't work, we tend to conclude that we can't change at all. The good news is that we can change, all of us, and meaningful lasting transformation doesn't take a lightning strike miracle or willpower of steel or six free months to spend in a Buddhist monastery. What it takes is this simple idea, which turns out to be one of the key elements of behavioural science, and it echoes through our great philosophical and spiritual traditions. When I say little by little in this book, I don't just mean it in a vague proverbial sense. An easy critique of the approach is to conjure scenarios in which a little is not actually likely to do a lot. Picking up a piece of litter every now and then won't keep a part clean. That's what a sceptic might say. Sending a couple of Christmas cards probably won't bridge a family estrangement. Fair enough. So before we go any further, let's define what I actually mean by this path to change. Here's what I mean by little by little. Low resistance actions done consistently over time in the same direction. Low resistance is all about choosing actions we'll actually do. While consistently is all about repetition. And in the same direction means that all the little steps are heading towards more or less the same thing. These qualities, resistance and consistency, they're at the heart of creating momentum and overcoming all the roadblocks in our way. The little decisions you and I make every day are of infinite importance, C.S. Lewis wrote, making a comparison to compound interest. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which a few months later you may be able to go on victories you never dreamed of. Let's prove him right. Time for another hymn, a mini hymn. Number one, two, four in your purple books. One more step. There are so many proverbs and sayings to remind us of the fact, and Eric Zimmer reminded us of a few in that last reading. Rome wasn't built in a day, slow and steady wins the race. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That one's not my favourite. I feel sorry for the elephant. The sayings continue and they come from all over the globe. There's the Tanzanian proverb, little by little, a little becomes a lot, and the similar Peruvian proverb, which translates to little by little one walks far. And from China, the saying of Confucius, it doesn't matter how slowly you go as long as you don't stop. Self-help and productivity books talk about the compound effect of establishing modest but consistent habits. Sports scientists, especially in my favourite sport of cycling, have in recent decades spoken about chasing marginal gains to optimise performance. And while not uncontroversial, that has transformed the entire sport of cycling. As John referred to, it's a central tenet of the 12-step recovery movement as well, one day at a time. We see people turn their entire lives around in the long term by taking it day by day. Zimmer himself is in long-term recovery, and that experience shaped the book that he wrote. And the faith traditions all have something to say about it too. In that reading that Musi gave for us earlier, we're reminded of the parable of the mustard seed and a couple of other scriptural encouragements to keep at it. Start small but keep going. In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad apparently taught the most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are consistent even if they're small. And the Buddha in the Dharma Pada is recorded as saying, drop by drop, the water pot is filled. That last one is particularly interesting as in context he's actually saying it can go either way. Little by little you can make positive change or little by little it can go astray and all go horribly wrong. In fact, I'm going to share those two verses from the Dharma Pada so you get both sides of the picture. He says, Think not lightly of evil, saying it will not come to me. Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise the fool gathering it little by little fills himself with evil. Think not lightly of good, saying, It will not come to me. Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise the wise man gathering it little by little fills himself with good. So important it's important for us to remember that as with more or less everything in life, this little by little approach is something that can be put to use for good or ill. We can intentionally set out to establish good habits and make those small, unspectacular but sustainable changes in our lives and the life of the world. And crucially, try not to try and change a thousand things at once, but just focus on one thing we can stick at until it's stuck. But at the same time, we have to be wary of unthinkingly picking up bad habits. We can slide into behaviours we know aren't in our interest or in anyone's best interests. And on any given day, our slip-ups perhaps don't seem too serious, yet little by little a little becomes a lot, and we can end up in our own lives or as a community or as a society. We can end up somewhere we don't want to be. The Buddha gives us that warning, and we should use that insight wisely. So I just want to invite you to consider where in your life you could apply this insight today. Let's make it real and practical for ourselves. Think about where you're at personally, your context, your circumstances, what you're dealing with right now in your stage of life. Perhaps also about the communities you're embedded in, your place in the world. Maybe, like me, you have an absurdly, oppressively humongous to-do list weighing you down, consisting not only of basic adulting and life maintenance and responsibilities towards others, but also social and cultural engagement, learning, activism, creative aspirations. That's what we're like, isn't it? And it's good. We care about a lot of things, we're interested in a lot of things, we like to get involved, and it can end up being overwhelming. So perhaps for you, the way to use this approach, this insight is to identify one tiny step you could take to move closer to where you want to be in life, or closer to who you want to be in life. Just one extremely modest action in one domain of your life that you could even do today. Remember what Zimmer said. Here's what I mean by little by little, low resistance actions done consistently over time in the same direction. When you think about your life right now, you could also take a moment to look back and think about how far you've already come. All the little by little that have already compounded in your life to date, the ways in which you've grown and developed, the metaphorical mountains you've already climbed, or indeed chiseled your way through, like the mountain man we heard about. Perhaps past you had a dream, an aspiration, and present you is that dream made real already? Well done. You've most likely already achieved a lot in your life and accumulated a fair bit of wisdom along the way. But let's also take a moment to think about future you. Maybe even imagine a time when you're nearing the end of your life and you're looking back over the span of it all. What modest step could you take today that future you would look back and thank you for? What metaphorical mustard seed could you sow and faithfully tend one day at a time, trusting that it will grow into something really worthwhile? There was that quote from Zephaniah in the first reading: Do not despise small beginnings because the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. And the reminder that by embracing these small beginnings, we allow God to multiply our efforts and turn our seeds of faith into trees of blessing. And this is not just about personal growth or optimizing our lives for our own benefit. That first reading spoke about the kingdom of God, also known as the beloved community, the better world, the realm of justice, that thing that we're forever striving towards, yet is also mysteriously somehow always at hand. Little by little we can each chip away. We must chip away all that we know is wrong in this world and help to build something better instead. It's a well-worn quote in Unitarian Circles, but I feel obliged to share the wise words of Edward Everett Hale, which encourage us to play our part in whatever small way we can. He said, I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can still do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. So think about what it is that you want to give your energies to, and then intentionally focus them so that your efforts stand the best chance of making an impact in the long run. Perhaps you're particularly motivated by wanting to combat the climate emergency, or fight the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, or stand up for trans rights. Whatever you feel particularly called to concentrate on, there are many, many worthy causes. Or rather than focusing on combating wrongs, maybe you might be more suited to building a better alternative, helping to co-create counter-cultural spaces that reflect your values like this one. How to be a Unitarian on Thursday night, we were talking about how we could collectively turn around the fortunes of our Unitarian denomination and reach more people. That is also a worthy project. And if we want our community to thrive to be there for us and for others, we need to engage with that. You cannot do everything. But still you can do something. And no matter how modest your contribution seems, if it's one that you can show up and do consistently day after day, week after week, until months become years, little by little a little becomes a lie. Until one close of an echo of those words from Zimmer that I shared at the beginning of the survey, as he said no matter where we find ourselves, we're a life evil, generous order, there's always some always available to us. Not always the one we want. Not always the one that changes everything. A movement towards a meaning. So may we take those steps and make those crucial choices for the greater good of all. Time for one last hymn. I know we're running very long because of the technical hitches, but I love this hymn and I don't want to cut it. If you have to leave, leave with our blessing. But let's sing one, two, five. One more step along the world, I go. One, two, five. Just a few announcements then. Thank you to Ramona for hosting once again in challenging circumstances. And Janine for co-hosting online. Thanks to George for smashing music. Thanks to Musty and Chloe for our read-ins. Thanks to John for greeting. I see Pat and Anna are about to go and put the kettle on. Thank you for looking after us. If you're online today with Janine for a chat, if you can, or if you're here in person, please do stay for tea and cake. I actually made two cakes on Friday night when it was 30 degrees, so please help me eat them for what we've got. Lemon cake with fancy Mr. Kipling style ice or parenting. At half twelve, Margaret will be offering to find your voice singing classes. We can help everybody make a better sound. Do come back in here at half twelve for that. Tonight we've got the Better World Book Club. If you're expecting to come and you haven't yet had the link, do let me know and I'll send it to you. Next week we'll read next week, next month we're reading this Calling In by Loretta Ross. Really fascinating and challenging book about how to make change and engage with people perhaps we'd rather not engage with. A few copies of that to lend out. On Wednesday, Brian has got the poetry group here at church at seven o'clock, sign up with him for that. Friday, we've got Heart and Soul Online, sign up with me for that. Next Sunday, the service is I Wish I Knew How and It's All About Freedom. And Vita is offering her Indian head massage uh workshop after the service. So sign up directly with her if you want to take part. Looking further ahead, we've got a congregational lunch uh at the end of next month. So um I thought Liz was going to be here today, perhaps she'll be back next week. Sign up with Liza to let her know what you're gonna bring for the lunch on the 26th of July. All this is on the back of the order. Service is in the Friday email us. I think a newsletter if you haven't already got one. We've got a life beyond Sunday morning. Do what you can to nurture the supportive committee. Our time to get the doors to a close. Our worship does not see in the days to come. May our lives be reflections of the beauty, peace, and joy that is still possible in this world. May we notice and appreciate all the quiet goodness we encounter every day. May we attend and nurture the little patch of earth on which we find ourselves. And may the love and comfort we found in this gathering sustain us as we go our separate way.