the words of others

"There is so much to be done, there is so much that can be done.
One person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.
We know that every moment is a moment of grace, every hour an offering; not to share them would be to betray them.
Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately."
Excerpt from Night by Elie Wiesel

This is what I feel on the inside and want to live on the outside. His words speak so directly to my desires-- what I'm discerning as God's desires for me. Sometimes words are not enough. And sometimes other people's words seem to fit my life better than my own words. In my history, I have often carried with me the words of others, and these words continue to speak to me in new and surprising ways.

"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely." Augusta Rodin

"Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart." hymn Here I am Lord by Daniel L. Schutte

"Nobody's free until everybody's free." Fannie Lou Hamer

So what? Reading, thinking, praying, writing--these are only the beginning. As I am doing these things, I must also be living, loving, speaking, touching, connecting. And in what specific ways I can do all of these things I am not entirely sure. Right now I feel that I'm in a space where I am hovering, waiting for a glimpse of clarity as to how my education and present circumstance will overlap and mesh into a future. I pray for openness to sense God's call toward a future-- a job, a career, a lifestyle that allows for both my college degree and my volunteer service to fuel what I offer to others. I am okay with being in a place of uncertainty. I am anxious, nervous, curious, excited, but ultimately I believe that I must stay here for a while before I can move into discernment, action, actualization. I will continually place my trust and hope in God, the only one who is in control.