The Gospel path is just the opposite. It leads us to receive everything from God: the meaning of our lives, the courage we need, the light by which we make our choices. It leads us to recieve everything from God in trust, prayer and simplicity. That is one aspect of what Therese means by “staying little”: consenting to recieve everything necessary from God’s hand, day by day, without worrying about either the past or the future. Day by day, we do what is asked of us, without anxiety, without fear, certain that God is faithful and will give us what we need from moment to moment; never falling prey to the illusion that one day we will be able to manage without God.

Therese continued: “So I have always stayed little, having no other occupation than that of picking flowers, the flowers of love and sacrifice, and offering to god for his pleasure.”

This means: I don’t aim at extraordinary feats or grandiose deeds that everyone would admire. In the banality of my daily life, I seek to please God in little things, alert for every opportunity of showing simple signs of love, offering myself, etc–not to accumulate merits or rise above other people, but for love, to please God, as a child seeks to please her father.

–Father Jacques Phillippe “The Way of Trust and Love”