When God Works Great Things in Small Places: A Reflection on The Canticle of the Turning

“Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
and your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.”

There’s a humble beauty in these lines from The Canticle of the Turning. They echo Mary’s song in Luke’s Gospel just after she learns of her miraculous pregnancy.  Imagining that moment can really bring us into the heart of this hymn.  A young women who should be considered completely ordinary in the eyes of the world has just learned that she will bear the child that will bring the world salvation.

Many of us probably don’t feel particularly extraordinary most days. We move through our days doing ordinary things.  We make breakfast, we answer emails, we show up for work, and drive the kids to soccer practice and end the day wondering why any of it matters.  And yet, we get up the next day and do it all again.

But this song reminds us that God has always worked through small people and simple moments. The same Spirit that spoke through Mary still moves quietly through us and the mundane moments of our day.

“Though I am small, my God, my all” is a confession of humility and at the same time a declaration of faith. God isn’t waiting for us to become impressive before beginning good work in us. God is already at work shaping, and healing, and blessing the mundane and ordinary moments.