NO SUCH THING AS LITTLE (PART II)

“Little Hinges Swing Huge Doors”

By Akin Ojumu

Considering the enormous impact that little things make in life, it’s befuddling why anything that’s small or little continues to be grossly underrated.

Just think about it for a moment…

“Little hinges swing huge doors.”

“A little rudder makes a huge ship turn.”

“A little spark makes huge flames.”

“Little foxes spoil the vines.”

“A little leaven leavens whole lump of dough.”

“The little tongue sets the whole body on fire.”

“A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.”

“Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big things.”

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

“Small helpful or harmful behaviors and inputs tend to accumulate over time, producing huge results.” 

“Many small improvements, consistently implemented, inevitably produce huge results.”

The propensity to size up others, objects and situations, is human nature; it’s something we all do. In everyday life, we often assess what’s in front of us. And, based on their size, we determine their worth, value, ability, strength, and prospects in relation to ours. We then decide whether or not we desire them. 

From ancient times to modern age, the capacious phallus is equated with procreative prowess. In many cultures, the voluptuous woman is the cynosure of the eyes of all lustful men. For the average spinster, atop her list of attributes of a perfect husband is the height of the man and the depth of his bank account. 

The obnoxious loudmouth who measures his worth by the vastness of his financial assets, the number of his eponymous buildings and the potency of the poisonous words that ooze from his twitter feed is sometimes crowned king.

In conventional wisdom, smallness often equals weakness. The world we live in is hostile to small people. When you are small, people ridicule your ability, scorn your potential, deride your worth, dismiss your strength, and they trample on your effort. Sadly, the world is no place for small folks.

Yet, such a perverse view of life is myopic and bears no semblance to reality. The mindset that is dismissive of small stature is an idiotic value judgment founded upon erroneous premises. The snarking attitude accorded diminutiveness is a product of a belief system that stands on ephemeral underpinnings. 

In real life, we know that little hinges swing huge doors. The tongue, which is one of the smallest organs in the human body, has the capacity to destroy nations and pulldown nations. And it only takes a tiny spark to set off a forest fire.

Through medical science we learn that the cause of most diseases can be traced to a single error in the sequence of nucleotides in a single strand of the DNA that makes up the human genome. Likewise, the most virulent scourges that afflict man are often caused by the smallest creatures known to man. 

It’s instructive to note that the virulence of a human pathogen is inversely proportional to its size; the smaller the size the deadlier it is. Yersinia pestis, one of the tiniest bacteria that exist, is said to have been the cause of the Black Plague, one of the most devastating pandemics in human history that killed close to 200 million Europeans in the 14th century. 

An epic battle between small and tall is also described in the Holy Bible. It happened when David, the little shepherd boy, came face-to-face with Goliath with only a sling and a stone. The 9-foot giant Philistine took one look at David’s small stature, smooth skin, and minuscule weapon, and he was filled with disdain and derision. It was a battle between a massive battle tested warrior and a hapless underdog. 

To everyone looking, the little child was no match for the towering giant. However, when the dusts of battle settled, it was David who remained standing and holding up the severed head of Goliath. With just a sling and a tiny stone, the small had defeated the tall in the battle of the ages. 

Even now, the tiny nation of Israel remains surrounded by a desert sand of enemies seeking to destroy it. But as much and as often as the enemies try, little Israel continues to stand on its feet holding up the severed heads of numerous slain giants.