I’ve been using an intriguing book to help me focus a bit each evening/morning: A Pilgrim’s Almanac: Reflections for Each Day of the Year by Edward Hays. It is a quirky compendium of tidbits tied into cultural seasons and the liturgical calendar. Part of yesterday’s reading came roaring back to mind as I tried to speed my daughter along through the getting-ready-for-bed process.
A devout and holy rabbi once said, “in my youth, fired with the love of God, I thought I would convert the whole world. But soon I learned it would be quite enough to convert the people who lived in my village. I tried that for a long time, but I was unsuccessful. Then I realized that my program was still too ambitious, so I concentrated on reforming the members of my own household. But I couldn’t convert them either. Finally it dawned on me that I must work only upon myself. But I have stumbled in my attempts to even accomplish that.
Another stumble. But tomorrow is a new day.
Love this. Esp with all the Rob Bell hoo hah going on about orthodoxy, etc. I appreciate the idea that the more I grow in faith, the more I realize how little I know.
Roundtable sparked lots of ideas about this too.
It seems that changing the world is better achieved by allowing myself to be changed. I wonder if what I choose to be and do is more about being faithful than it is about changing anything.