This post marks the end of a major chapter in each of the "steppers" lives. We have learned much and hope to continue our lifestyle of learning. I personally feel that we left our part of the mission complete even though there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done. During our final week in Honduras, we met with a lady who works at Calvin College and during a debriefing session she gave us this writing on which to reflect. Read this and think of how it can encourage each and everyone one of you in your respective walk in life.
A Prayer by Archbishop Oscar Romero
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 effects 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.
Copyright © 2007 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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