Big People Small People
Montreal, July 2005

In the context of the rest of society, which one are you, a big person or a small person? Does this question make you uncomfortable? Am I being too black and white in my delineation of the two, is it not realistic? What does it mean to be big, what does it mean to be small? Is one better than the other, is one worse?

As a poor, powerless, and unknown wee person, I'd have to swallow my pride and qualify myself as small - which definitely has its advantages. I sincerly hope that I'm wrong and that the world is more complex than this, more than just about the interaction between the big and the small people. An old Bible story from Luke pops into mind, the story of the widow who gives to the poor what she can:

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.. Luke 21:1-4

The point being - even the small can be bigger than the big.