"We are challenged on every hand to work untiringly to achieve excellence in our life work. Not all men are called to specialized or professional jobs; even fewer rise to the heights of genius in the arts and sciences; many are called to be laborers in factories, fields, and streets. But no work is unimportant and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well"
- Martin Luther King Jr.
It can be hard to remember that our lives take their shape as the accumulation of a hundred small acts, thoughts and decisions which we make every day. Because of this, nothing is inconsequential. Everything matters. Nothing is so small that our future course cannot be altered by it, no job so mundane that it does not warrant our full presence and attention. God is found in the washing of a dish, the life we dream of in the sweeping of a street…if we sweep with purpose and resolution. As we bring attention to the moments of our days, our lives (which are the accumulation of those days), are attended to as well. The broom becomes a tool of our practice and a doorway to peace of mind and acceptance. And acceptance allows us to see with clarity and move freely, staying or moving on as we desire. There are no small acts.
Blessings,
sam
