Blooming Soon…
I spend a lot of my time contributing to community development projects. It is such a joy to do this and one of the best parts is getting to work with people who selflessly and joyfully give of their time and energy to make the world a better place. These people inspire me so much! But, you know, even the most hopeful among us occasionally feels overwhelmed and wonders if the work we are doing is making a difference. Sometimes some of these people confide in me about these feelings and of course sometimes I feel them, too. But you know what? I KNOW, with all that is in me, that everything we each do to try to make the world a better place has an effect. One of the teachings from the Baha’i Faith that is SO helpful to me is the idea that any work done in the spirit of service is the same as worship. So, any striving we do is like a prayer. Isn’t that beautiful? So basically, one of the things that means to me is that nothing we do goes unnoticed—it all counts, and it all contributes to growth.
In fact, I’ve been needing to remember all this lately so I put these beautiful flowers in my office:
Every time I see the beauty of these flowers or smell their perfume, I remember that they are the product of a gardener’s loving time and attention. And although the end product itself is beautiful, the work the gardener put into it is even more beautiful to me—-because all that work was put into it without being able to see the finished product—-it was done with the hope of attaining a vision of the beauty that was possible. And that’s a lot like all that we each try to do each day to be better people and make the world a better place. It ALL makes a difference and all the seeds we are planting WILL bloom eventually. Maybe even sooner than we think…
August 18th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
This is a really good post. Thank you. I do hope that the seeds we plant in our lives do blossom in time for us to see them.
Hope you’re well,
Ian
August 19th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
i like this post a lot. i had a conversation with a friend in chicago last night that re-confirmed the work i try to do. as minimal as my efforts are, i felt really good about the process. he was mentioning to me the desire to see his neighborhood gentrified and how as that desire rises so does gang violence in that area. i was thinking about where gangs come from… from those who feel displaced attempting to take ownership of their block, their neighborhood, something. it’s holding on to the very mortar that makes your surroundings because you have nothing else. so, the displacement likely to result from gentrifcation would definitely be terrifying enough that the firm grasp of gangs would intensify.
anyway… this is all to say, i’m glad to be engaged in a process where the guiding principle is unity — unity that includes the voices of even the marginalized.
August 20th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Ian and Kari, thanks so much for your beautiful thoughts!
August 27th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Laura, I love seeing the flowers that we talked about for your space in concept! Yeah for you! Thanks for sharing your beautiful self with all of us!