We can make a difference.

A farmer walks along the furrowed row, stopping every three feet, to place a potato start into the soil. His young son keeps pace, on the opposite side of the furrow, weighted with a burlap sack of starts, wholehearted in assisting his father. He places starts into the soil; unhurried, deliberate and methodical. There are times when he picks the start from out of the ground, in order to turn it, so that the eye of the potato may be placed at the exact angle.
The neighbor, who has been watching over the fence, decides to offer his opinion. “I see you’re planting potatoes,” he tells the farmer, “But I’ll tell you this; it’s going to take you a good long while at your pace. Let me tell you like it is; you’d get it done a whole lot faster if you’d plant this field by yourself.”
“Well,” replies the farmer, “that may be true, but I’m raising more than just potatoes.”

We do make a difference in our world.
And the choices we make do matter.
There are days when I need to hear Mr. Rogers’ voice, “It’s not so much what we have in this life that matters. It’s what we do with what we have. The alphabet is fine, but it’s what we do with it that matters most. Making words like ‘friend’ and ‘love’. That’s what really matters.” (We could use more of Mr. Rogers in this world. Just sayin’.)
So, I wonder, how do we find the courage to choose what really matters?
What I do know is that each week I’m more aware of why struggles (anger or tears or sadness cropping up when I least expect them) make choices about what matters difficult. This is no surprise, with all the uncertainty and conflict in our world. I forget (or lose track) of the integrity of my inner Voice (what Marilynn Robinson called the “reservoir of goodness”).
We’ve lost the empowerment that comes from knowing that what is at our core (compassion, generosity, kind-heartedness, our capacity for connection) is greater than whatever change confronts or challenges us.
In other words, we have forgotten our best selves.
We have forgotten that we were made for this, one soul helping another.

Yes, we get to choose the kind of world we want to live in. Let’s begin with Helen Keller’s reminder, “I am one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And just because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
Taking Mother Teresa’s words to heart, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
Bottom line; gratefully, indifference is not an option.

So. I can choose to be kind. To be generous. To be inclusive. To not demean or shame. This is not because we get points, or rewards in heaven. We can choose because this is a reflection of who we are, at our core. This little light of mine.
I love the work I do; talking, teaching, entertaining. But, if I’m honest, there are times when I wonder why I still do “what” I do. I know that I have choices. But on my darker days I wonder, what difference can I really make?
We know we have choices. What does it matter what I do?

This may be an old story.  But I love telling it…
As the old man walks the beach at dawn, he notices a young man picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up to the youth, he asks a simple question, “Why are you doing this?’
The boy answers that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun.
“But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish. How can your efforts make any difference?”
The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and threw it to safety–into the ocean past the breaking waves. “It makes a difference to this one,” he said.

Yes, my friend, our choices do make a difference. They matter.
Let us take these affirmations into our week…
“The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It’s overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.” Thank you, Leo Buscaglia.

“The plain fact is that the planet does not need
more successful people.
But it does desperately needs
more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers,
and lovers of every kind.
It needs people who live well in their place.
It needs people of moral courage
willing to join the fight
to make the world habitable and humane.
And these qualities have little to do
with success as we have defined it.”
David Orr

Thank you for being a part of Sabbath Moment. And thank you for spilling light in our world. One hug, one touch, one kind and compassionate gesture at a time.

I confess I’ve never really understood the need for our time change, but I know it happens because here in the PNW, dark now arrives before 5pm.

Quote for our week…
Be a Lamp, be a Lifeboat, be a Ladder.
Help someone’s soul heal today.
Walk out of your house like a shepherd.  Rumi

Today’s Photo Credit: “Dear Terry, On a return trip from Italy I stopped and visited friends in Worcester, Massachusetts before flying home to Tacoma. During my morning stroll through a park I was humbled to be in the midst of Autumn’s glory! I hope you know there is a ripple effect your Sabbath Moment has, not just on your readers but also those with whom your readers share. You are God’s gift that keeps on giving,” Marguerite Gerontis… Thank you Marguerite… Thank you to all, I love your photos… please keep sending them… send to terryhershey.com 

Yes, your gift makes a difference… Donation = Love…
Help make Sabbath Moment possible. I write SM because I want to live with a soft heart; to create a place for sanctuary, empathy, inclusion, compassion and kindness… a space where we are refueled to make a difference. SM remains free.
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Audio Sabbath Moment oldie but goodie– Love brings you home
Join us every Wednesday… Audio Sabbath Moment
Letters that do my heart good…
–Hi Terry, My husband and I enjoyed your wonderful stories and plenary sessions at Shrine Mont last week. In addition, I attended your workshop on Soul Gardening. The attendees were offering lots of good news and books that touched on this subject. One of them was Suzanne Simard’s book finding the mother tree (which I loved). Another favorite of mine is Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life. Another participant spoke about Doug Tallamy and his idea of homegrown national parks by connecting our fragmented properties into nourishing native plants for all. I thought you might find it interesting and enjoy it. Peace to you, Susie
–Terry, Bill and I are so grateful for the time together on the Holy ground of Shrine Mont. Being with you and Shrine Mont pilgrims was a joy and we leave with uplifted hearts and peace filled souls. May everyone depart in peace to live and serve the Lord as we “walk each other home.” Blessings, Margaret
–Each Wednesday evening, I gather with a group of 6th grade children to learn about and discuss our faith. This is a picture of our blessing bowl into which each child places his or her name. Each child then picks the name of a classmate for whom he or she will pray during the week until we gather again. It’s a way to multiply prayer, blessings and love in our world, one child at a time. Many thanks to you too, Terry, for multiplying prayer, blessings and love in our world one Sabbath Moment at a time. Bernie