Recently I saw some video tributes to Pope John Paul II on uTube. The thought that I had was, how is it, that this one little man, the leader of the smallest and weakest country in the whole world, is so huge? I mean, everyone in the world knew him and he had more influence than anyone else, and Vatican City is barely a tiny speck on the globe. How is this?
A while ago, a priest friend of mine invited me to stay over in a rectory room whenever I needed a break from being with my parents full-time. About a month or so ago, I was quite ready to take him up on his offer. I showed up in the evening, and he set me up with a private room right next door to the little chapel. I got a really good night’s sleep.
The next morning, I woke up early and noticed the sound of running water. It just so happened that my room was next to the bathroom. I listened more closely: sure enough, a leaky toilet.
When I went down to breakfast, he mentioned the brand-new toilet, how they were having problems with it. It kept running, and a plumber was going to be coming later in the day. “OK,” I said. But of course, the engineer in me was not OK …
I went back to the bathroom and inspected the toilet mechanism. After a few minutes examining it, I looked at a little screw, and said to myself, “That’s it.”
I went back downstairs and said, “Father, if you have a screwdriver, I think I can fix the toilet problem.” He said, “I think I do.”
So we went to the bathroom with the screwdriver. “When the water level gets high enough, this screw should push down on the valve here and turn off the water flow. But it’s too short. I think it needs just one turn and it will be long enough.”
So I gave it one turn. Then the toilet was flushed. The problem was fixed, and the Water Commission and a plumber were out a few bucks.
All that water flowing, costing a lot of money. A plumber coming, also costing a lot of money and time. The problem wasn’t in the handle, or the large valve, or the big float. It was in the tiniest screw.
Now, on its own, that little screw is, well, just a little screw. But in that appliance, everything depended on that little screw. In that appliance, that little screw becomes huge.
“And I say to you: That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” (Mt 16:18)
You see, the Greek word for Peter here means “pebble”, and the Greek word for rock here means “huge rock”.
In God’s Kingdom, everything depends on that pebble. In God’s Kingdom, that pebble becomes a huge rock.
Are you a little pebble? I mean, are you unimportant, overlooked, not so influential in the world’s eyes, in the way television and newspapers determine? Maybe ill-suited, maybe a failure, maybe not so “talented” or “on track”? Well, if you are, then know that you are very important in God’s eyes. Know that His Kingdom depends on you. Know that in His Kingdom, you become a huge rock.
I’m more a useful screwdriver than a rock, but that’s like being a daisy that appears in my front yard out of nowhere, simply to cheer us when all the other flowers were too shy to say more than “hi” this year. I’m ok with that.
Without the screwdriver, I guess the screw could never find its place …