Giving Mountainous Grace Out of Mole Hills

I don’t think we’d want to let someone else be the judge of what should be mountainous or mole hill-like for us. So let’s give others grace and space to measure their challenges in their own way. The exciting part about our role is that we get to be cheerleaders, mentors, friends, and helpers no matter how people measure or experience their challenges. How amazing would it be to know that everybody we see in our community is cheering us on to be successful at facing our challenges.

I didn’t realize we don’t have moles in the area I grew up until I started to see their very characteristic earthen mounds scattered around grassy fields all over the place in Oregon. For those of you, like me, who maybe haven’t seen what a mole hill is like, imagine—or I guess look at the illustrative photo above—that you dug one shovel-full of dirt and set that dirt aside. That’s basically it. A couple of inches high.

This morning I saw a lot of these little piles of dirt and I instantly thought of the old adage “making a mountain out of a mole hill.”The basic interpretation of this phrase is that we shouldn’t blow small issues out of proportion. But as with most wise old sayings, there is a lot more at play, and I hope you’ll forgive me if I make a mountain out of a mole hill about the saying “making a mountain out of a mole hill.”

One possible conception that we sometimes fall guilty of is using our lens on a problem someone else is facing and judging its ease or difficulty based on our life experience. What might be easy to one who has had experiences and therefore possibly additional skills to deal with a certain poblem, might be quite challenging indeed to another. Think about the varied ease or difficulty it would be to build a bookshelf for a carpenter or for someone who has never even held a hammer. We are all in so different places in life that we really shouldn’t judge anybody harshly for not being at the same experience level that we might be at because undoubtedly, everybody is our better at something. We’ll need to ask for their grace just as much as we should willingly give it to others.

Another reason why that phrase perhaps lacks some nuance is because although mole hills might be only a couple of inches above the ground, they might be quite extensive underground. Metaphorically speaking, when we look at problems others are facing, we are only seeing the external expression. We don’t know the emotional, psychological, or mental challenges that someone might be dealing with while facing that challenge. We have to conception of the possible intricacies of tunnels and burrowing tunnels that someone might be dealing with. So again, we should give everyone some grace for that too.

And lastly, use measuring stick are we using anyway? We all have our own rules of measuring our challenges. Some embrace challenges. Others try their best to avoid them. Some people find social engagements thrilling. Others might find them horrifying. I don’t think we’d want to let someone else be the judge of what should be mountainous or mole hill-like for us. So again, let’s give others grace and space to measure their challenges in their own way.

The exciting part about our role in all of this is that we get to be cheerleaders, mentors, friends, and helpers no matter how people measure or experience their challenges. How amazing would it be to know that everybody we see in our community is cheering us on to be successful at facing our challenges.