Stone

By D. M. Thomas

There is also the seventh book, perhaps, the seventh,
And called The Seventh Book because it is not published,
The one that a child thinks he could have written,
Made of the firmest stone and clearest leaves,
That a people keep alive by, keep alive.

If a work does not gladden me,
I need to consider laying it down.
When I devote myself to something
that does not flow from my identity,
that is not integral to my nature,
I am most likely deepening the world's hunger
rather than helping to alleviate it.

~ Parker J. Palmer

Most servants don't consider themselves leaders.
They are so focused on meeting the needs at hand that they never look back to see if they are being followed.
They are...
Sergiovanni's ideal schoolhouse is one many ... educators know well.
They have been taught there.
They continue to learn there.
That is where they serve, and that is where they lead.

Sims, C. (2002). Sergiovanni, Synodical Schools, and Servant Leadership. Lutheran Education, 138(2), 95-99.

Vocation is

"the place where your deep gladness

meets the world's deep need."

~ Frederick Buechner

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves...Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

~ Ranier Maria Rilke

What a long time it can take to become the person one has always been.

~ Parker J. Palmer

For as long as we've been around as humans, as wandering bands of nomads or cave dwellers, we have sat together and shared experiences.

We've painted images on rock walls, recounted dreams and visions, told stories of the day, and generally felt comforted to be in the world together.

When the world became fearsome, we came together.

When the world called us to explore its edges, we journeyed together.

Whatever we did, we did it together.

I hope we can reclaim conversation as our route back to each other, and as the path forward to a hopeful future.

It only requires imagination and courage and faith.

These are qualities possessed by everyone.

Now is the time to exercise them to their fullest.

Wheatley, M. J. (2002). Turning to one another: Simple conversations to restore hope to the future. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.