Canton Church of the Brethren

The following excerpt was taken during the offertory thought of our worship service on Sunday February 11, 2018. 

The well-known social activist Dorothy Day has said: “The sense of futility is one of the greatest evils of the day.…People say, “What can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?” They cannot see that we can only lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment.”

To state Dorothy Day’s words another way: Futility is being blinded by the big picture, overwhelmed to the point of being ineffective.

Mental sight allows us to see well beyond where we are today. To get from today to that expansive tomorrow is a huge leap. The costs are insurmountable.

To alleviate the consequences of poverty with equitable distribution of wealth may be one of those overwhelming tomorrows. But what if we take Dorothy Day at her word? What if we distribute a little bit today, a bit more the next day, and so on with each successive day? Might our eyes be opened to see the larger good through the little things we do day in and day out. May the gifts we share now add to that larger good, and may the good that is done give sight to all.