"For us let it be enough to know ourselves to be in the place where God wants us, and carry on our work, even though it be no more than the work of an ant, infinitesimally small, and with unforeseeable results."
-- Abbé Monchanin

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

In The Beginning - Chaim Potok


I recently reread In The Beginning by Chaim Potok.  [If you haven't read all of Potok's books, you're missing immeasurable treasures.]  In the book one of the characters makes the following statement:

People exist by virtue of the help they give to one another.  That's what I believe.  Helping people improves the helped person's life and keeps the helping person human.  I know how much rottenness there is in people.  If I though only of the ugliness inhuman beings, I would despair.  So I try also to remind myself of the many people in this world who help one another.

That's something we need to hear and heed in the messed up world we're experiencing these days.  With the current election shenanigans we really need to remind ourselves of the many people who help one another.  And we need to be among that cohort.