Small but Mighty

Who doesn’t want to be stronger?

More resilient?

Increasingly flexible,

able to change, and

creatively engaged in life-giving work?

(Sounds like self-help spam, doesn’t it?)

 

Playing Reader’s Roulette with my alumni magazine, I read about graphene.

Two Russians puttering with transparent tape and a graphite rock won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discoveries. (Yes, I got the memo late, but read on for a little WOW.)

• Harder than a diamond
• 200 times stronger than steel
• Long-lasting
• Easily shaped

Graphene is a honeycomb lattice made up of carbon atoms. Raw potential, one atom thick.

“It would take an elephant . . . balanced on a pencil . . . to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness of plastic wrap,” states Erin Peterson, a Twin Cities writer and editor. She includes the above picture in her article “Small but Mighty.”*

Peterson’s title and image give me pause. A holy pause . . .

The current refugee crisis staggers my imagination, as does the grace and welcome being extended to thousands of these traumatized wayfarers, here and abroad.

How have so many traveled so far and so fast with so little, while so afraid?

Amid this global havoc, opportunities abound (check the link below, where you can get involved).

Graphene won’t help refugees fleeing violence, but learning about its properties bolsters my hope that even teeny-tiny technology may help allay future crises.

And it reminds me that God’s still, small voice, gently directing us, also strengthens us for service to others.

God’s guiding words, turned into actions, flow through us to ease the way of those we are called to journey beside.

Living waters, poured out. The ripple effect.

Turns out nothing except water passes through graphene’s atomic-scale honeycomb. Scientists and engineers envision one day being able to cheaply filter seawater—perhaps even contaminated water—for nations stricken by drought.

Imagine clean water for all the living.

Nanotechnology (of all things!) not only inspires and instructs me today, it stirs new intentions.

No, I won’t be standing, one-legged, on a pencil any time soon.

I will, by the grace of the Almighty:

• Become more transparent in relationships
• Build resilience and flexibility via ongoing adjustments to my new workload, balancing it with recovery time
• Share life-giving thoughts with you via this blog
• Embrace being changed so I can help in a small way with the refugee crisis

From something as strange and minute as graphene, all these new intentions!

Where shall I begin?

To enact good intentions, productivity expert Michael Hyatt urges “suspending our disbelief” about seeing them through. I suspend disbelief when watching movies, or plays, or reading fiction—a skill I already have. How about you?

What if we suspend disbelief about making changes in our lives, and in our world?

Remember David facing Goliath? Faith like a mustard seed? Five small loaves and a couple sardines?

No matter how small the resource, God’s grace is mighty.

MAKE IT PERSONAL:

Which of your assets, or abilities (no matter how small in your eyes) will you offer to God, in service for others?

HELP THE REFUGEES:

Eat Chobani Yoghurt (the founder is donating $700 million dollars toward refugee relief): http://tinyurl.com/ofhhwq6

Sign up for this mailing list: http://www.wewelcomerefugees.com

Visit the United Nations refugee agency: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

More ideas for helping here, including the purchase of “Live Simply” t-shirts, all proceeds benefit refugees: http://theartofsimple.net/refugees/

LEARN MORE ABOUT GRAPHENE: http://preview.tinyurl.com/k5k8jsz

*Erin Peterson, “Small but Mighty,” St. Olaf (Alumni Magazine), Winter 2015, 15-16