“If I can throw a single ray of light across the darkened pathway of another…”

Paddleboard Nelson by Gemma Campbell

Credit: House of Travel in the “scenic and tranquil little haven” that is New Zealand (or ‘Godzone’, as it is often affectionately known)

“If I can throw a single ray of light across the darkened pathway of another;
if I can aid some soul to clearer sight of life and duty, and thus bless my brother;
if I can wipe from any human cheek a tear,
I shall not have lived my life in vain while here.
If I can guide some erring one to truth, inspire within his heart a sense of duty;
if I can plant within my soul of rosy youth a sense of right, a love of truth and beauty;
if I can teach one man that God and heaven are near,
I shall not then have lived in vain while here.
If from my mind I banish doubt and fear, and keep my life attuned to love and kindness;
if I can scatter light and hope and cheer, and help remove the curse of mental blindness;
if I can make more joy, more hope, less pain,
I shall not have lived and loved in vain.
If by life’s roadside I can plant a tree, beneath whose shade some wearied head may rest,
though I may never share its beauty, I shall yet be truly blest –
though no one knows my name, nor drops a flower upon my grave,
I shall not have lived in vain while here.”

– Anonymous (or was it St Francis of Assisi?)

“If a man is called to be a street-sweeper,
he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted,
or Beethoven composed music,
or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well,
that all the hosts of heaven will pause to say,
here lived a great street sweeper
who did his job well.
– Martin Luther King, Jr

“Instead of the limits of borders (of countries and of our minds) let us and our leaders expand our sense of possibility… and together let’s look at building bridges to distant horizons, far and great. Lord, help us all lift our eyes a little higher.”
– craig

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