"To be useful was the best thing the
old men ever hoped for themselves, and to be aimless was their worst
fear." -Marilynne Robinson, Gilead.
Our church book club met this week and it was my book we discussed. I have loved Gilead and been in awe of the
literary and theological genius of Marilynne Robinson since I first read her Pulitzer Prize winning book years ago.
She writes with quiet elegance of America’s heartland, its collective soul, and the
beauty of ordinary life. Every
collection of quotes I assemble includes the quote from Gilead posted above;
it has been listed on this blog since its inception.
What I love about her writing and her world view is that she suggests a good life
lived occurs accompanied by a soft cadence of love and family and community and friends. It often is neither as large ror as loud as our contemporary culture purports. It happens by noticing again and again the
red shirt worn by a young son or the favorite blue dress clothing an adored wife. It happens by noting the light as it spills through the window or seeing it on the trees lining the pathway. It happens by telling family stories,
recounting family trials, and by gentle acceptance of the truth both
reveal. There is a balm in this Gilead if
one takes the time to read it slowly…
Being useful is a good and attainable goal. Richard Foster in his book Celebration of Discipline, talks about
“the service of small things,” like Dorcas
in the Bible “who made coats and garments for the widows.” I like this notion of the service of small
things—I can do that. I can make soup for the soup kitchen, knit up a prayer
shawl, sew patches together for a Lutheran World Relief quilt, send a note, visit a
group home, or make a meal for a shut-in.
I can do those things, and they really do matter. I may never travel to a foreign land on a
mission trip or champion a cause on a national scale, but I can mend up some of the
rips and tears in life and the lives of those around me. These are among the precious things put
within the grasp of my hands, small ways to be of use.
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