Today’s meditation was written by Cathy Self, Senior Vice President for the Baptist Healing Trust.

     A quick look across the pages of my family photo albums is very telling about growth and change in my life! The lines of my face are deeper and more plentiful, my hair has changed dramatically, and parts of me have certainly grown. As I reflect on those images I can see what others cannot – there have been changes and growth that are invisible to the eye but that are knowable in the heart. Much of my younger life was devoted to achieving perfect scores and hosting the perfect party. Somehow I thought then that if I worked hard enough and long enough I could grow into the perfect mom and wife and therapist. I’ve shared Shakespeare’s quote with you before, and I offer it again today as a beginning place of reflection:

"Everything that grows holds in perfection but for a moment…"

     I suppose this quote has become more meaningful to me out of my personal struggle to let go of perfectionism coupled with a desire to grow in grace and wisdom as well as in years! Possibility and change offer such great gifts. Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) is reported to have said, "To grow is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often." Change involves risk and ambivalence, but is it the very place where we may embrace and fully engage life.

    Poet Fredrich Holderlin wrote of the potential of change in our lives with these words:

    Near is/ and difficult to understand the God/ But where danger is/ the redemptive also grows.

    Each day represents a microcosm of life – in each moment is a whole day, and in each day we may experience the wholeness of our being. And, each day is different! Celtic spirituality embodies a great reverence for the day, and holds each new day as sacred. In Celtic traditions, nature is not merely a reflection of what is good and holy, but is itself the illuminated possibility of what is and what may be.

    Those of us who work, whether for someone else, for ourselves, or in service great and small, are easily caught by the trap of doing, missing the essence of being. Pressures and stress steal the moments, and before we know it, another day is gone. There is an old African tale of a man exploring that beautiful country. He was in a desperate rush to get through a particularly dense jungle, and pushed his African transporters to race ahead. After three days of rushing and great effort, the African transporters sat down and would not move. The explorer urged them to get up, explaining the pressure he felt to reach a particular destination before a certain date. He offered bonuses and rewards if only they would help him move on. They didn’t budge, in spite of his protestations and persuasive speeches. Finally, one of the native bearers admitted the reason: "We have moved too quickly to reach here; now we must wait to give our spirits a chance to catch up with us."

    Many caregivers are secretly weary, having pushed so far with such effort, and without giving their spirits time to catch up. What would it be like if we could, instead, experience work as a place of possibility, meaning, and even growth? How can we encourage our neglected souls to come and meet us again in our work?