Friday, September 30, 2011

Greening the desert; scaling the mountain


I was very influenced by Elizabeth O'Connor during the period in which I was attempting to discern whether or not to enter the religious life. Here's something quite wonderful that she said:
Every single one of us has a good work to do in life. This good work not only accomplishes something needed in the world, but completes something in us. When it is finished, a new work emerges that will help make green a desert place as well as scale another mountain inside ourselves.
I don't think by "good work to do in life" she means anything particularly grand as the world would evaluate such work. It can be very hidden indeed or really quite simple. Nevertheless, that good work is something that is truly needed and something that helps us grow interiorly as well.
~~~

3 comments:

  1. And sometimes the 'good work' can be as simple as letting someone else know they've done a good work. The painting is gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I thought so too and I was really happy to find it. I couldn't tell for sure who the artist was. That's why I only linked to the Wikimedia Commons site without mentioning the artist. I'm thinking maybe the person who uploaded it is actually the one who painted it.

    ReplyDelete

New policy: Anonymous posts must be signed or they will be deleted. Pick a name, any name (it could be Paperclip or Doorknob), but identify yourself in some way. Thank you.