Rosicrucian Writings Online

 
Strange, isn't it, how a cup of coffee with friends can change your whole life!  A few days can make a difference in human relationships, either enriching them or widening an already existing gulf.  Strange, how a handclasp can awaken the soul to recognition of a long-lost friend.  Little things add up to major changes in life.
 
After completing a specified amount of school work, we receive our diplomas and degrees.  One credit less than the required number, and graduation is impossible.  Between 211° and 212° F., then, is only one degree; but that degree means the difference between boiling and non-boiling water.  The human body in equilibrium is healthy, but one element may move it out of balance to the side of disease.
 
One hears of the straw that broke the camel's back; the battle lost for lack of a horseshoe nail; a life destroyed by accumulations of little incidents or attitudes that by themselves are trivial until taken collectively.  Imagine how much material wealth could be accumulated if each man, woman, and child in the world contributed one dime or its equivalent to a common fund.  Imagine the potential force of accumulated acts of kindness, even of "please," and "thank you."
 
In the words of a popular song, Little Things Mean A Lot.  After all, the greatest mountain in the world is composed of individual crystals; and the greatest ocean no more than minute drops of water.  Together, the minute is mighty.  The greatest force for good in the world today lies in the little act, the little wish, that builds momentum with each passing day.  As the Christophers say, "One candle helps light the world."  And as Confucius put it, "We must first mend our own lives if we are to help mend others'."