Strength

Quickly clambering up the table, he beamed down at me.
His broad frame belied his nimble movements.
A light bulb dangled from his fingers.

"See, Sister? Same light, less wattage, more savings."
Several months back, he had said Mass at our convent and noticed that our lights was the old kind. "Tsk, tsk, you are wasting money," he sternly remarked.

A huge boyish grin broke through.
"Do not worry, I will do something about this."

He had come back a week later with Jesse, the parish's maintenance man and they together replaced our kitchen lights. He was back again a few days ago with a boxful of brand-new energy saving light bulbs. A lighting company was willing to donate to the church several boxes and with a few words, they added another boxful for the convent.

I was not surprised at Father Claír's determination and resourcefulness.
He was the same man who gained for St. Luke parish full ownership of their church by paying off a $600,000 plus debt which had resulted from the construction of the new church building. The debt had accumulated for 20 years since the completion of the church. He helped the parish pay it off in two and a half years.

I was surprised he had noticed such a small detail of our convent.
After all, he is pastor to over 10,000 souls.

Graphene is 100 times tougher than steel and no thicker than an atom.
Geim and Novoselov, the two scientists who discovered this material, was recently awarded the Nobel Prize for physics. Graphene is being extolled as the thinnest and strongest material on earth. Surprisingly, simple scotch tape was used to extract the material from graphite, the stuff in lead pencils.

Simple method, extraordinary strength.
But not perhaps the greatest strength in the world.

A simpler method exists.
The method of seeing with the heart.
The greatest strength of the world already exists: the heart that acts.

ps1. Photo of Fr Clair leading the people in a procession in honor of St. Luke
ps2. News article http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101005/ap_on_hi_te/eu_nobel_physics

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