The Remnant
“Tune your television to any channel it doesn’t receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this ancient remnant of the Big Bang. The next time you complain that there is nothing on, remember that you can always watch the birth of the universe.” ~ Bill Bryson
Abraham Isaac Kook once wrote, “A tiny remnant of a big thing is better than a whole little thing.” I think, in many ways, he reflects the thought of Bill Bryson in today’s opening quote.
In today’s first reading as well, God spoke through the prophet Zephaniah when he uttered, “I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord: the remnant of Israel.”
Remnants. When I first became familiar with that word, it was in terms of carpeting. My mother used to go to carpet stores and purchase the rectangles of remnants that the store was selling at dirt cheap prices. They were generally samples of carpeting that was discontinued and no longer sold.
With some carpet string, she would sew the remnants together in intriguing patterns and, voila, we would have a brand new area rug out of pieces that were once considered worthless.
That is what the remnant of Israel felt about themselves in history. They felt cast off, useless, worthless. But God, through Zephaniah, reminded them that they were left in the midst of nations as a visible sign to others. A remnant could be worthless. A remnant, on the other hand, could also be priceless.
There are days, when attempting to live the faith in a world that is so deeply troubled, that we might feel as if we, too, have no worth. We do not see the value that we have because our world appears so dark and overpowering. Nothing can overpower God, however.
If we live as His faithful people, we have the opportunity to provide a picture of what could be. A people of love, forgiveness, and serenity can take on the world if we just put our minds to it.
So, what do you say? Are you going to adopt an attitude of worthlessness, of thinking that you are too small of a remnant to make a difference? Think again. You can make all the difference in the world, even if only to one person.
FAITH ACTION: Don’t worry about everyone else. Ask God to give you the grace that you need to live as a faith-filled person so as to inspire others.