Which do you like better, peanuts or almonds?  This was the question posed by the gentleman ahead of me in the checkout line at the grocery store.  “Almonds”, I replied, as I wondered why he was asking.  I had noticed him having a brief conversation also with the customer directly behind him, in front of me in line.  The gentleman who asked the question reached over and picked up a candy bar from the rack in the checkout aisle, handed it to the cashier to scan with the rest of his order, and then handed me the candy bar.  “Sometimes you just need a Snickers”, he said with a smile.  Sure enough the candy bar had almonds, not peanuts.

This small act of kindness from a complete stranger really made my day.  It was a little thing, but still had an impact on me.

Do you ever have a day when you feel completely overwhelmed?  A very full day, when you just couldn’t catch a breath, much less get everything done that you had planned?  Sometimes, I find that if I stop and take a few moments to focus on the “little things”, I can regain my focus and face the day with a bit more energy.  The candy bar incident was exactly that type of energizer for me that day.

Lately, I have had a number of similar things happen to me.  Most of them would probably seem like nothing to most observers, or at best a “coincidence”.  Was it a coincidence that I was in the same store and the same checkout aisle as that generous gentleman?  Was it a coincidence that one day when I was in a tremendous hurry to get home and needed to get some avocados at Costco (they’re the best!), that when I went in the store, the avocados were right up front, along with all the other featured items?  That’s the only time I can remember going to Costco and spending only about 10 minutes from entering the store to completing my purchase and exiting.  Was it a coincidence that I had green lights all the way home from running errands the other day?  Red lights and traffic always aggravate me, and so this seemed a real treat.

As as person of faith, I choose to look at these little things as gifts from God.  It’s not that I think He is just waiting around to grant my every whim.  After all, He has all of creation and all of His creatures to tend to, not just me.  But if these little pleasant happenings cause me to think of Him and thank Him for His love, then I think that’s a good thing.  And its not that I’m looking expectantly for these kinds of things to happen.  There are plenty of times when the red lights are frustrating, or customers in line at the store are causing delays.  But if I see a beautiful sunset, or receive an unexpected text or email from a dear friend, or hear a great song, I can choose to thank God for those experiences.

In thinking about these little things that happen to me, I have also reflected on little things that I might do to help someone else, just a “little thing” to perhaps brighten their day.  Why not let someone enter my traffic lane, even though the line is already quite long?  Why not contact my cousin whom I haven’t seen in over a year?  Why not say hello to people I’m sharing an elevator with?  Why not thank the tech support person by name at the end of my call for help?

St. Therese of Lisieux is famous for her “Little Way”.  Basically, no matter how much she wanted to become a saint, she felt that she could never “measure up” to the great deeds of the saints she read about.  But rather than give up, she decided to trust God and offer Him “little things”.  She wrote about this in her autobiography “Story of a Soul”.

           “You must practice the little virtues. This is sometimes difficult, but God never refuses the first grace—courage for self-conquest;                and if the soul corresponds to that grace, she at once finds herself in God’s sunlight”.

“In times of aridity when I am incapable of praying, of practicing virtue, I seek little opportunities, mere trifles, to give pleasure to             Jesus; for instance, a smile, a pleasant word when inclined to be silent and to show weariness. If I find no opportunities, I at least             tell Him again and again that I love Him; that is not difficult and it keeps alive the fire in my heart. Even though this fire of love                 might seem extinct I would still throw little straws upon the embers, and I am certain it would rekindle.”

Will I look for opportunities every day?  Probably not.  But whenever I can manage to say or do little things for someone else, I hope it might lighten their load, at least a bit.

After receiving the candy bar from the gentleman at the grocery store, it was a bit easier to wait my turn in line.  When I stepped forward and greeted the cashier, I commented to her how nice it was to have someone spreading kindness, especially in these days when we experience so much conflict in our society.  She agreed that his positive attitude was so good to see.  Then I asked her, “Do you like Snickers?”  When she said “Yes”, I gave her the Snickers bar.