Nov. 2, 2013 Thoughts on effort

Thoughts on effort 

101%


We act and act and act, every day. We push ourselves in things that sometimes present themselves in the moment; seem to appear from nowhere.. We find ways to make things work, always thinking creatively, executing strategically. And all the while, problems occur in the peripheral. Sometimes problems you create yourself, in just one second of letting your guard down.

To your left people ask for favors. To your right, objects solicit your attention. And for the most part we keep moving. We take the stewardship given at any given moment, and we usually do just about our best. But not always. 

I thought I had thought of everything. I had everything planned out. Days of moving missionaries male and female from place to place, all depending on the fact that my co workers, friends, companions, had done their part to make their stewardships interact with mine at just the right moments. We move missionaries, we give them documents and assignments, advise, money, plans, commandments, encouragement... We watch them fulfill for the most part. But nothing ever goes the same way it was thought out.

Then at the end of each night, more exhausting than before, we look back and remember the good and bad. The actions spent well, and the moments waisted away. The mistakes made. They have the greatest effect. Sometimes acts of ommission even stronger than a misfired act of commission. And sometimes other peoples´ acts affect mine, or me, or my life. Sometimes in ways that i would rather not be a part of. In ways that make life harder for me, make me more... TIRED.

All of these entities, living and and breathing, and all of these chain reactions having started at some point and set to finish with a release of energy of SOME KIND. And one sits in the middle and is expected to tread water. And carry someone else, even if just for a moment. You learn things when leading. How does something so human, so selfish, so one-minded, so just that- a human, every reach past its own fleshy walls and put forth EFFORT to help someone else? Whether they do it on errand, or better yet of their own free will, they do. They serve. .. They help. .. They try to push out, instead of pull in. There has to be something else at play here.

There is. It´s called One-hundred and one percent. 

I thought everything was going according to plan, and then things changed. I always knew that I could only trust in my own planning up to a certain point, but that I would surely make mistakes, just as I had before. And when something goes terribly wrong, and 5 other living breathing things miss the bus, was it my fault?? I don´t really know. 

But the problem was that 100% had already been given. There was nothing left to give and I am beat. Won. Down. 

And then came 101. Someone else, sent from the master of all, came in and pushed where my hands had worn out. Pulled where i had lost grip. They put in their own effort, to make up where mine had simply... RUN OUT. They found my missionaries and stepped in as leader, if only for a short time. They took them one half hour more to San Juan, and caught that same bus. And my loss, whether truly all my fault or not, was irrevocably and undeniably e r a s e d. That is 101percent. It comes in only where nothing is left. It interferes ONLY when all faith is almost lost, and fear is making camp. IT comes only from one source. 

I say to you that it is real. There is no one else who holds the answer to so many problems. There is no one else who can it up when there really isn´t any time left.