Imparting Hope

“Imparting hope to others has nothing to do with exhorting or cheering them on. It has everything to do with relationships that honor the soul, encourage the heart, inspire the mind, quicken the step, and heal the wounds we suffer along the way.”― Parker J. Palmer, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, & Getting Old

Mother Teresa’s Anyway Poem

“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”

Love well today.
Each day.
Kindness, generosity, resilience, empathy, compassion, hope, love.
These are what bind, heal, last, survive, sustain, overcome, teach, thrive, build, rebuild, unite.
The good fight of love.

“The highest form of love is the love that allows for intimacy without the annihilation of difference.”― Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life