I have this coffee table book called A Turning Point: Images to Words that I bought in the United Nations gift shop a few years ago.
In that book are many quotes accompanying many brilliant photographs by a photographer named Victor Gagliardi. At various moments in my life since I brought it home with me, I have been inspired in turn by many of those quotes and pictures.
And what, you ask, does any of this have to do with giving my blog a home at feucontinu.blogspot.com?
Well, that would be this quote, by French author Jean Giono:
Do you know what creation is?
It is feu continu (uninterrupted fire).
You simply keep on going,
taking up each day from where you ceased.
What you insist on calling genius in me is artisan.
My father was a shoemaker.
So I am to the last.
I think that the idea of uninterrupted fire is a really powerful metaphor for what I'm supposed to be trying to do with the next 18 months or so of my life.
In doing development work, many people (mistakenly, in my opinion) believe that the purpose of every project - every school, every well, every book drive, every World Vision child sponsor - is to change the world. As if by vigorous efforts in a single place in a single time will somehow cascade into more vigorous efforts in other single places in other single times and that somehow, all together they will result in a grand cascade of 'change' heard round the world.
Don't get me wrong. I do believe that this work can change the world. But I think that expecting every single thing we do to catalyze sweeping changes and improvements is a bit short-sighted. Enthusiasm for that kind of work burns brightly, yes, but it also burns quickly, and leaps chaotically from place to place, often burning out before the work is done. There's no persistence possible when one believes in change alone.
Over the coming months, I hope to share with you the privilege of being part of a project that, yes, at its heart, is founded on a belief that change is possible and can be done in this way (that is, through development projects and enthusiastic volunteers). But I also want to remember that it is change in small increments and born of ceaseless effort. Success is not simply measured by change, but also by persistence.
--------------------
(Unrelated note: If you have a few minutes to spare some time, I highly recommend reading Giono's short story L'homme qui plantait des arbres (The Man Who Planted Trees). I've linked to an English translation here.)
Posts
