Chocolate malted-milk balls are one of the little things in our marriage. For the 15 years we lived on campus, Diane always kept a small bag of those goodies on the counter. Now and then she would say, “You’ve been eating all the milk balls!” “No, I’ve only had a few.” Now we’re enjoying our little indulgence in Collinsville, but again, “Have you been nibbling on the milk balls?” she says, blaming me because I’m the only other person in the house. Except, I’m not the only other one in the house. “Nibbling?” “Yeah, the nut is here but the chocolate is all gone.” “Sounds like a mouse.”
I don’t know how it goes in your home, but now the world stops. All human efforts must be directed at eliminating the little guy who likes chocolate. Dale isn’t so bothered. Like most ministers and seminarians, I like to think lofty thoughts. “If I were president, here’s how I’d handle Covid-19.” Or God… Guys who gravitate to Seminary love thinking about God. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the some of them!” (Psalm 139:17). Ah, that’s not where daily life is lived. There’s a mouse who likes chocolate and we’ve got to take him out. So, Diane went to Walmart and got a mouse trap, which we forgot how to set. Mice weren’t a problem on campus; ants were. They streamed into the house after every rain. Same drill. I’d rather think theology but no, these ants have to be stopped. Well, we got the ants and yesterday we set the trap. Our little friend had his last meal of chocolate.
It’s the little things that make life such a gift from our Creator. The coronavirus should be teaching us that. Socializing in public places, hugs and handshakes, laughing and happily singing with no thought of droplets, all these little things are missed. But we still have little things we’ll remember as life narrows down. Diane and I sit and talk. “Did we catch another mouse?” “No, our chocolate buddy was the only one.”
The lofty theological truth here is the incarnation. The mysterious Creator became one of us and did all the little things that make life what it is. Today the Spirit of Jesus gives us His mercies to savor and share with one another. “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 16:11; Matthew 22:39).
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