BEING A MAGNIFIER

    Being a magnifier would make my life a continuous joy. It would take no work at all, just a willingness to make what’s around me as big and bright as possible. A magnifier doesn’t have to struggle to be the best it can be; it only has to hold itself in front of objects so they become the best they can be. I would love to live like that, just helping the beautiful things of this world -- the trees whose shade I stand in, the students who share my classroom, even the  old sofa I’m sitting on as I write– make themselves as special as possible. Perhaps by just standing beside someone I could better display that person’s significance to the world. Perhaps the people I pass each day could be somehow magnified by my brief presence, so they become aware of at least a short-lived feeling of importance. Maybe I could make all things be as bright as possible, even shiny, even spectacular, possibly. I have grown weary of working so hard to magnify my own wee small self, and so maybe its time to turn my magnifier on the wide world I live in. When someone speaks to me, maybe just listening with a ready heart could help their words be filled with wisdom, help them grow and glow like they should. Perhaps my power of magnification could work the magic of making a discouraged person suddenly praise herself and all things, or throw a light of grandness over someone sinking into sorrow and downheartedness. It wouldn’t really be work, no harder than letting things flourish and shine in all their intrinsic rareness.