romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen. Oscar Romero

I read this prayer sporadically. and i love the hope it provides, and the permission it grants to say 'i can't do everything and that's ok.' i think it's particularly weighing on my mind today because i'm thinking about thanksgiving so much. we're going to be able to have thanksgiving dinner this year, but my brother and his wife won't be there, and dad won't be there. and dad isn't in his own room yet, so we can't take food to him (he's not eating solid foods anyway) but we'll have to have our dinner and then go visit him afterwards. we do have a lot to be thankful for this year. but it's still hard. everytime someone says that, we're reminded that he almost didn't make it. twice. that in the past two weeks we've had to face the reality that dad wouldn't live to see thanksgiving. now that he's going to make it, i am surely thankful and blessed and i know it, but it doesn't make almost losing him not hurt. it's hard to have so many conflicting emotions all at the same time. just makes me want to crawl into bed and hide.

i hope you all are having a great wednesday, and that you have a fantastic thanksgiving (ha. the irony) i love you all and am truly blessed to have friends like you.
r