Just A Drop in the Bucket -- Monday, December 5, 2011

A phrase that I imagine most of us have heard and maybe even used a few times......  Just a drop in the bucket.   Sometimes it is used to voice a  comparison that may be reflecting  a tiny bit when held in light beside another.

Walking through the snow, cold wind, and on ice from my car into the grocery store is a drop in the bucket when I think of Jen walking distances in the Macedonian winter for her  groceries and water

The first taste of winter and its snow  here on the plains may well be a drop in the bucket as we move through the winter season making our way to spring.and other we have heard

Sometimes, we can even feel like we are a drop in the bucket....  as one little drop.....  how do I make a difference in this world?  Am I just a drop in the bucket?

Here’s the reality of some drops in the bucket.

Have you hear about the Secret Santa who was in the Philadephia area this past week?  Oh my word!

There is a man... one man.... to some he may seem like a drop in the bucket...  who each year listens to the news and watches the statisitics and chooses an area where he feels the people are living in economic struggles, depression, and a sense of down turn.  Then dressed as Santa Claus and armed with $100 bills he sneaks into the area.  He walks among the people.  He listens in the coffee shops.  He finds those he wants to share with and hands out $100 bills.  After investing up to $20,000 in a neighborhood, he quietly fades away back into his normal  daily life, in his home community.

This man has been living the Christmas season with this same ritual (just in different cities and neighborhoods)  for many years.  He sneaks in, sneaks out....  leaving behind encouragement, hope, and in some cases the money needed to retain utilities, buy groceries, pay rent.

A drop in the bucket who lifts burdens, lighten loads, eases struggles.

Then, there are the drops in the Salvation Army bell ringers’ buckets.  Every coin matters.  Every donation adds to the whole and serves great need.  But there are a few drops in the bucket that make the counters pause and take a deep breath.   Recent reports share that someone has dropped a solid gold coin, its worth in excess of $5000.  One drop in the bucket was a note saying that “others are in greater need than I” wrapped around a piece of jewelry.  Throughout this Christmas season,  the stories of the drops in the bucket will continue to make their way to our awareness.

Yes, we all can take part in being drops in the bucket...  we affect what fills the bucket.

In our neighborhoods, communities, states, nation and to the world, every little step,touch, effort, investment in others makes an impact.

It matters.  Every drop in the bucket matters.

How can we be drops in the bucket?