Keeping on keeping on…

I've been participating in a 40 day email series called "Practicing Spirituality with the Quakers". Much of what I've read is not new to me, but nonetheless, there have been helpful reminders of some of my deepest core values. A recent excerpt jumped out at me, touching a longstanding area of personal vulnerability:

"Not one of us will live long enough to see a fraction of the difference we make, but it is essential that we pursue our ideals anyway. Many of the first Quakers never saw freedom of religion come to England. Most of the original suffragists never got to vote. The murdered civil rights workers did not get to see racial tensions ease. Few idealists live long enough to see their dreams made real, and yet their influence lives after them, and their dreams do, sometimes, come true for others."

— Kate Maloy in A Stone Bridge North

Years ago our home seemed to be a haven for folks in need. We poured our energy, our love and our resources—our very selves—into the lives of several individuals and families. We have no sparkling success stories to tell, we can't point to lives transformed in any obvious way. Reading such stories has always stirred up questions for me about what we did or didn't do or might have done better. And yet I've always been comforted, in that inner place of knowing, that we did the best we could with what we knew at the time, that our motives were loving and sincere, and that those events and relationships came to us for a reason. Looking back, I see holy moments.

Living faithful, living true in our relationships has always been important to us. We may not see that we've made any difference in our lifetime, but these words by Karen Maloy encourage me to keep on keeping on!

-- Post From My iPhone