Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
Still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice—it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances—but it is the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will
come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.
Mother Teresa said that when she washed the feet of the abandoned homeless person on the street she was washing the feet of Jesus. I'm guessing she had doubts in the dark of her nights. Did I really treat that person as if he were the Lord? Am I doing enough to serve the poor and needy? Is my inner spiritual house in order? Mary seems unsure as well. Me too. How can I ever express in my actions my gratitude and awe for the beauty of the whole? My heart will never open enough to let the whole world in. In this I am reminded of these words adapted from Bishop Oscar Romero: It helps now and then to step back and take the long view.
The (beloved community) is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision.
Nothing we do is complete.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer full expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s vision.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant 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 cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way.
An opportunity for (grace) to enter and do the rest
We may never see the end results,
(for) We are workers, not master builders.
Ministers, not messiahs
We are prophets of a future not our own.
What kind of house keeping do you do for the holy and wholely?
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