Success

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Looks like an interesting list to read...

Clay Shirky’s ‘Must Read’ list...

• Rise of the Stupid Network, David Isenberg — Why the Internet works
• End-to-End Arguments In System Design, J.H. Saltzer, D.P. Reed, and D.D. Clark — How to Design for the Internet
• Worse is Better, Richard Gabriel — Why weak but flexible systems beat strong but inflexible ones
• Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson — Group coordination costs as a key aspect of organization design.

The Long View

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.

Attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero

Ordination

I really liked this so I have taken it from Rob's blog...

You are not ordained to minister; that happened at your baptism.
You are not ordained to be a caring person; you are already called to do that.
You are not ordained to serve the church; this is already implied in your membership.
You are not ordained to become involved in social issues, ecology, race, politics, revolution; for this is laid upon every Christian.

You are ordained to something smaller and less spectacular:
To read and interpret those sacred stories of our community,
so that they speak a word to people today;
to remember and practice those rituals and rites of meaning that in their poetry address people at the level where they operate;
to foster in community through word and sacrament that encounter with truth which will set men and women free to minister as the body of Christ.