continuing the work
In whom are you finding your reward?
Isaiah 49:4
I had been thinking, “I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing!”— yet all the while my cause was with YHWH, and my reward was with my God.
I’m sure it’s not just me that feels exhausted. We’re fighting a barrage of injustices and oppressions on so many levels and the work is taxing and challenging and seemingly never-ending.
Are we toiling in vain? Are we exhausting ourselves for nothing?
I don’t know, to be honest. My theology has given up on the idea of eternal reward and so I am much more focused on the here and now, that which we’re tearing down, building up, and repairing for future generations.
Sometimes that effort feels futile, but then I hear about a young person in my life who is continuing the work and finding joy in the midst of all this (*gestures broadly*). I think my reward now is in them - they’re my cause for keeping on.
In whom are you finding your reward? How does that placement give you hope and stamina for continuing the work?
— Candace Woods
I resonate with what you said about letting go of the concept of "eternal reward", and focusing on the present. our work is here, and little actions of kindness add up- even if it feels like they're lost in the wind.