Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
I got some Tolstoy books for my birthday today, I was so excited, thank-you grandma! (Oh I also got an Alicia Keys poster!) When Tolstoy had just finished writing "War and Peace", one of the most famous novels in the history of the world, he decided to go live it large. You know what he did? He started a school on his estate for peasant children. He personally taught a group of underprivileged peasant children, Tolstoy, who was one of the most famous men of his time.
I find it incredible that he decided to do that. He had such a firm belief that there was potential for good in those children, that he sacrificed all the parties and great social life that he could have been enjoying in place of hanging out with a bunch of little kids. He also claimed that he learned an incredible amount from them, more than he taught them.
There is so much bad in the world. We should start to do little things instead of worrying about saving the whole world. Tolstoy hung out with a bunch of little kids, Martin Luther King marched down some streets, what can we do?
My brother, Orion Pahl, drew this picture for me once that makes me think how little we are, yet how unique we are. (Top of the page.) We are really small. We are not gods. We are loved to make a difference.
2 comments:
What a humble and seemingly unimportant thing for Tolstoy to do with his life: teach peasant children.
Right now I am reading a book about Spiritual Mentoring and in the book there is a quote from Eugene Peterson that says, "Pastoral work consists of modest, daily assigned work" The authors go on to say that, "Peterson compares pastoral ministry to work on the farm with its routines of unglamorous chores, such as cleaning the barn, mucking out the stalls and pulling weeds." I think this shows the importance and power of the small things in life that we do.
Hey have you ever heard of the musical artists Mishka or Xavier Rudd? These are two pretty cool dudes that I would recommend.
poor poor children the world might say
rather poor poor children, so much to be gained.
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