The glow-worm

While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things are extraordinary.

~ Matt Bavin

None is small or none is big, it's a matter of attitude only. Which seems small, it may be big. And which seems big, it may be small. According to me, strength may vary, but the purpose for which it is used makes all difference.

People perform big actions. It seems so gigantic. It may be in the welfare of all. But God always checks the purpose of it. For what purpose it has been done, that matters most.

Good actions done with bad motives are bad. Bad actions done with good motives are good.

~ Bhagavad Gita

Here is a little poem about Firefly. Tagoreji has poetically woven the act of him in words. Firefly is a small creature but act he does is not at all small. He enlightens the world. He borrows from none. In service to others, he uses his own power.

In essence, it’s an elegant, noble and selfless act done out of love and kindness. So it seems small but it’s really not. It’s a great act of gladness. Here is a poem:  

Little Firefly, how joyously you spread your wings

In the woods in the dark twilight!

You have poured out your heart in gladness.

You are not the sun, you are not the moon.

But are you happy and any the less?

Your life you have fulfilled,

You have lighted your own light;

What you have is your own,

To none are you indebted;

You have obeyed only

The power in yourself.

You have burst the bond of darkness.

You are tiny but you are not little,

For all the lights in the universe

Are your kin.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Meaning:

Little firefly spreads his wings with joy in the dark twilight. He has filled his heart with happiness and kindness. Neither he is the radiant sun nor he is the luminous moon. Nevertheless, he is an elated soul.

He has filled his life in a real sense. He uses his own light to emit. It’s not borrowed from anywhere. So he is in debt to none. He has obeyed his conscience and followed his inner power.

He has burst the darkness and illumined the world. He is a tiny creature but he’s not little. He is the inheritor of light of the universe.  

*****

Never feel that I am small. I am nothing. Always say: I am great, potential and divine. I am a son of God. I am an inheritor of Indian Culture which is a great, ancient and most precious valley of knowledge.  

Never drag self down. But arise above with radiance. What matters if I am not so wealthy and having a little power. When I sublime my motive for the action, I am great. Though it’s a small act, the ripples of it make a big difference.

*****  

Little drops of water

Little grains of sand

Make the mighty ocean

And the pleasant land.

~ Julia Carney