Never Enough Yet Sufficient
Nothing we do is enough. There is always more to do - more people to love, more work to be done.
It seems that I especially do so little, teaching a course here, conducting a consultancy there, writing emails every day, a blog now and then, being with those I love when I can. It is all so little. What can the impact be? I need more time, more energy. I need to be in many places at once. But, what could ever be enough?
How many patients can a doctor see in a day? There are always more to be seen. How many people can you really touch with a kind word or a helpful action? It seems it is so few. When we have been given the gift of life, unasked for and undeserved, how can we ever give enough in return?
Yet what we do is somehow sufficient. It is our gift given back, our reaching out to others. It is the way we touch the whole, one at a time. Then those we have touched touch others, and so on until the whole of humanity and the Earth are touched.
We share our speech and our deeds, we invest them in the community. They ripple outward, endlessly. We also receive energy from others, who touch us, encourage us, care for us. It is all we can do, to share and to receive.
How much do I love, both in giving and receiving? It is never enough. Yet in some mysterious way it is sufficient, even perfect.
How can I vow daily to save all sentient beings? Is that not utterly impossible? Whether it is reasonable to so intend, it is still my earnest vow and hope. It encourages me to do more, to be more, moment by moment. And it inspires me with a vision of a compassionate civilization that is always coming to be.