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Do Something

With all the problems in our world today, it can be tempting to give up and decide that nothing can be done to fix things. But thinking there is nothing that can be done leads us to do just that – nothing. And then, of course, we prove ourselves right. Nothing happens, and the problems remain unsolved.

Quaker author Shulamith Clearbridge reminds us in the August issue of the Friends Journal that when we let ourselves get caught in this kind of despair, we are not the only ones who will be affected.  What happens, she says, is that “[y]ou’ll become unable to help other people, and you’ll be unable to be God’s hands, eyes, compassion or love. Losing you won’t help the world.” Her solution, to “remain focused on the Light,” helps us to look beyond the problems of the day to what the Spirit is calling us to do and be in the moment.

Clearbridge calls on us to hear the question Quakers often ask of themselves (and that we might consider adding to our own spiritual practices): “What does love require of me?”  And then, find a way to gather strength, and go out and do it.

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