Sunday, October 5, 2008

Devoted To The Task -- Not The Completion Of It

God hasn't called me to be successful.
He's called me to be faithful.

--Mother Teresa

 

A reporter asked Mother Teresa how she could bear to go on working at such a hopeless task day after day and year after year. The people she cared for were so wretchedly poor. Many of them, very sick. How could she continue with such dedication, knowing that all the poverty and sickness would still be there long after she had died? Didn't she realize she couldn't win?

Her explanation was simple: Of course she knew the task was immense, but "finishing" wasn't her purpose. Mother Teresa had turned her life and will over to God, and her work was what she believed to be God's will for her. Because of this, she was devoted to the task itself, not to the completion of it.

We too can learn to be receptive to a higher purpose. We can direct our energies into causes we believe in, even if we know the job will never be finished. We can visit with friends and family and not try to win a verbal exchange. We can accept the will of our Higher Power and thereby find serenity.


Today, I will let go of the driving need to succeed or to impress others.

Instead, I will be receptive to my Higher Power's will.

 

Days of Healing, Days of Joy

by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

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