Holy moments part 1: The ripple effect of small wonders

Sometimes, the most profound impacts come from the moments we barely notice. Join me as we explore how seemingly insignificant instances can shape our path and reveal our truest purpose.

HOLY MOMENTS!!! 

Have you ever lived through a historically nondescript moment that did not even warrant a second thought at the time of its occurrence, only for retrospective examination to reveal its significance? 

Such events could have been big or small things: a seemingly ordinary conversation, an off-hand remark or gesture, a chance meeting, a missed appointment, a shared elevator ride, a last kiss, or an unexpected invitation. 

These moments arrive without announcement or fanfare. We breeze through them without a second thought, and yet when we look back across the landscape of our lives, we find that they were the beginning strokes of a masterpiece or the hidden hinges upon which our lives pivoted. We discover that we had quietly arrived at a crossroads in those moments. There were no blinking lights or divine warnings, and yet we had participated in an unfolding mystery beyond our immediate comprehension. 

At the time, we have only fragments: a feeling, an impulse, a small decision. We have no inkling of the eternal significance of our choices or of the chain of consequences stretching far into the future. 

Most of humanity lives life forward but understands it backward. 

Perhaps this is a blessing. For all things considered, we are spared the paralysis that might result if we fully understood the weight of our choices. Instead, life grants us only the next step. 

Yet there are a few people in history who stood in the presence of such moments and whom God mercifully allowed to perceive—albeit incompletely—the significance of what stood before them. The best example that comes to mind is Moses. 

He was living in exile as a failed savior. 

Having killed an Egyptian in an attempt to show solidarity with his people, he was forced to flee for his life from Pharaoh's palace. To make matters worse, the very people he sought to defend turned against him. Here he was in the land of Midian, having experienced a rapid and dramatic reversal of circumstances—from prince to shepherd. 

Suddenly, hands that had been massaged and meticulously cared for were calloused. The man who had once had everything done for him—including having water drawn for his bath and his every need attended to—now had to draw water himself and fill the troughs of sheep. The sheep and goats that had once appeared only on his table, prepared and ready to eat, had become companions with names and a place in his heart. He had gone from being a prince in waiting to working for another man—his father-in-law. 

Then, in the midst of another run-of-the-mill, scorching day tending his flock, he noticed something unusual in the Midian desert. 

Perhaps he was bored. 

Perhaps he was simply alert. 

After all, fires in the desert were not uncommon, and he would have been concerned for the safety of the furry companions that had grown dear to him. 

Yet something about this fire was different. 

The bush burned, but it was not consumed. 

He watched. 

He observed. 

And then, fascinated by what he saw, he made what must have seemed like the most insignificant of decisions: 

"I will turn aside and see this great sight." 

Little did he know that God Almighty and all of Heaven were waiting for that response. 

The destiny of a nation hung upon a moment of curiosity. 

The course of redemptive history was altered because a shepherd decided to stop and pay attention. 

Oh, how many times has God tried to catch our attention through the busyness of life? 

How often has He nudged you to let go of an offense? 

How many times have you felt prompted to be more charitable with your words? 

To make that phone call? 

To offer forgiveness? 

To extend kindness to a stranger? 

How many burning bushes have we walked past because we were simply too distracted to turn aside and look? 

To acknowledge the existence of these holy moments is to develop a certain reverence for the ordinary affairs of each day. 

We learn humility in recognizing that we are not the sole authors of our stories. Our choices crisscross with the choices of countless others, and the final product becomes a beautiful mosaic of individual decisions, grace, providence, chance encounters, disappointments, opportunities, and divine intervention. 

Transformation, change, and even endings rarely arrive sounding a trumpet. More often, they enter clothed in the garb of the ordinary. We assume that destiny-altering moments happen only in dramatic circumstances or monumental decisions, while overlooking the defining moments quietly unfolding before our eyes. 

Perhaps that is why we ought to live each moment with attentive gratitude. 

Be generous with your words. 

Be quick to forgive. 

Choose kindness whenever possible. 

Love people well. 

For we cannot know which conversation will alter a life, which gesture will echo through generations, or which ordinary Wednesday afternoon will become the defining chapter of a story. 

Years later, what seemed like nothing more than a fleeting memory may suddenly reveal itself for what it truly was. 

And you may find yourself looking back and saying: 

"That was the moment." 

The moment it all began. 

The holy moment.