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Grab an oar

Renee, who works in the HPS Network office, sent me the following. She saw it on a boat near where her brother has a boat. I think you could easily substitute the word “HPS Network” for “parish.”

I can empathize with both sides of the fence. There are some places in my life where I feel like the person who is just along for the ride. I justify this to myself in that the other places where I am involved in my life don’t need me as much as the HPS Network needs me. Still, I know I have to get beyond that to start to develop a more balanced life. It’s hard when you feel like you’re in a life and death race and you’re rowing the boat with golf clubs.

I suppose that’s the only advantage to being obscure and unknown. Every single one of us makes such a huge difference, even if we feel like what we’re doing is so small. There are no small jobs in HPSland – we need the cumulative efforts and talents of everyone. As Donna puts it, in the beginning the cure was a dream, but now it’s a race.

Here’s the saying:

A parish is not like a bus on
which you pay your fare and then
sit passively to be driven by someone else to your destination.

A parish is like a rowboat:
there is a seat for
everybody, and by every
seat there is an oar.
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