Every once in awhile something hits me like a lead pipe. It’s usually at night when I am reflecting on my day and asking myself whether or not I was a good Christian or not.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says:

I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. –  John 13 -34

When I think back over my day, I ask myself this question, and realize that I don’t always.

For the last two weeks the local news has been full of stories about how people helped the victims of the Boston bombing. Both professionals (police, fire, ems) or common everyday citizens, there are stories of how these people ran toward the explosions in order to help the victims. But this is not the norm for most of us, we may never get the chance to do this. But we do get the chance to do small things every day.

Little things like saying hello to a stranger you meet. holding a door open for the person behind you or giving a helping hand to a neighbor. It doesn’t take much to accomplish these things. Is it really that hard to be nice to someone, even someone you don’t know?

Back to the lead pipe, I am always wishing I could do more. For instance there is a fund set up to help the victims of the bombings, but I have no money to donate, I am barely holding onto my house. I know there are other ways I can help and I will do my best, but my point is we don’t always need to do the big things to be good stewards. We can do small things, every day things which can make a difference as well.

It all makes a difference.