So often in life it feels as though there is no end to our labors and that our goals may not be realized. Jacob Riis, a twentieth century photojournalist, once reflected on what he would do when he was feeling discouraged. He said: "When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a
stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know that it was not that blow that did it- but all that had gone before."
There is something to be learned of the story of the stonecutter. It reminds us to be patient with our work, especially when the end is not quickly in sight.
May the Holy One of Blessing grant us the ability to progress even when it might seem as though we are standing still, and may we be given the fortitude to see our labors through to a successful, and speedy end. May this be God`s will--AMEN
