Piloting Faith: The weight of a snowflake...

A Word for the Day...

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a global treasure whose work has profoundly shaped my imagination and understanding of my own contribution to the world. Over the years, she started writing "Letters from the Ark," short pieces of encouragement and wisdom she could see from her vantage point and offers to the rest of us.

In May of 2008, she wrote a letter to "Young Activists" where she said...

"Mis estimados:

Do not lose heart. We were made for these times....

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take 'everyone on Earth' to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale."

It helps to remember: You don't have to fix everything. Just fix that which is within your grasp. When you spot a need in the world, your job is to ask "Is this my work to do?" If so, count on the rest of us to support you. If not, celebrate that someone else is called to that work. We are all in this together. We were made for such a time as this.

- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight

Prayer for the Week

Teach me a child's way of living in my heart and mind today:
playful
open
curious
unguarded
innocent
quick to giggle
delighted in the moment
easily contented
ready for hope - and hope big - all over again
forgetful of yesterday

I want to change and become little in my spirit. Teach me what that looks like.

Help me to let go of the grown-up stuff I'm so prideful about, like what I think I know, especially about you.

Remake me like a child in all the right ways, that I may walk the path of love.

Amen.

(adapted from The Prayer Wheel by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess, and David Van Biema)