Called............................................

I began to realize that hills and dales are equally impostors - like Kipling's triumph and disaster.  Success can't keep its promises and failure can't hold its ground.  One shouldn't be bamboozled by either state.  The important thing is not to be in a certain state, but to be a certain kind of person in whichever state you find yourself.  Sure, I think one has a duty to do as much as one can to fulfill one's potential, to strive for success, certainly to do good and avoid evil, but the outcome of one's efforts is of secondary importance.  To quote a certain wizard's advice to a Mr. Underhill who was lamenting he lived in dark days:  "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."  Or to paraphrase Mother Teresa:  We are not called to be successful;  we are called to be faithful.

-Michael Ward, as excerpted from this commencement address

Editors Note:  For those unaware of "Mr. Underhill,"  please go here.