If we remain focused on the long view, the big picture, the grand goal, we risk missing what is right in front of us. The daily details of the immediate world matter. But if we never lift up our eyes to the distance we will never be able to choose where we are headed.
How to you balance your focus on the long vs. the close view?
“In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken,’ and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.”
― Carl Sagan
When have you changed your mind about something religious or political?
We cannot know the future, but we can be sure that it is being shaped in this very moment. Perhaps we need to work backward, imagining the future we dream of so that we can take the steps right now that will lead in that direction.
What is a dream that you hold for the future? What will you do today to create that future?
“I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”
― Harry S. Truman
When have you gotten in trouble for telling the truth?
Quaker prayer practice includes “holding in the light,” envisioning a person who is struggling wrapped in the Divine Light they affirm within and beyond each person.
Who will you hold in the light today?
