every little bit counts - lots of cliches are true
Another gem I remembered today: every little bit counts. The problems of the world are too daunting to expect to fix them all, or even a substantial amount. But, every act of justice or love or redemption counts. Don’t be discouraged if you feel overwhelmed by the brokenness of the world. Instead, take what gifts and resources you have and exhaust them for the good of the world and the people of the world. If everyone agrees to do this, perhaps a significant force will be mobilized.
“The Gust House” by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
what they did yesterday afternoon by warsan shire
they set my aunts house on fire
i cried the way women on tv do
folding at the middle
like a five pound note.
i called the boy who use to love me
tried to ‘okay’ my voice
i said hello
he said warsan, what’s wrong, what’s happened?
i’ve been praying,
and these are what my prayers look like;
dear god
i come from two countries
one is thirsty
the other is on fire
both need water.
later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.
Atticus Finch - personal hero
”„,if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
“On Writing” by Raymond Carver
I have friends who’ve told me they had to hurry a book because they needed the money, their editor or their wife was leaning on them or leaving them—something, some apology for the writing not being very good. ”It would have been better if I’d taken the time.” I was dumbfounded when I heard a novelist friend say this. I still am, if I think about it, which I don’t. It’s none of my business. But if the writing can’t be made as good as it is within us to make it, then why do it? In the end; the satisfaction of having done our best, and the proof of that labor, is the one thing we can take into the grave. I wanted to say to my friend, for heaven’s sake to do something else. There have to be easier and maybe more honest ways to try and earn a living. Or else just do it to the best of your abilities, your talents, and then don’t justify or make excuses. Don’t complain, don’t complain.
A Section from William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
I slept and dream that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
-Rabindranath Tagore
excerpts from Oswald Chambers
“…to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.
“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. but we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well…No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.
Beginner’s Mind - Bright eyes
“Stay a while my inner child
I’d like to learn your tricks
Know what makes you tick
Nurse you when you’re sick
Oh how you’ve grown so cynical
Hard lines carved in your face
The sunshine’s so cliche
Just like love and pain”
