Daily Devotion - Friday, November 4

Pursuing Excellence

“I will walk with integrity of heart…”
--A song from an ancient seeker

Friday: “The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in a person’s determination.” --Tommy Lasorda

I believe Tommy Lasorda understands a major component in the pursuit of excellence. In all of life, a primary question is, “How am I, can I, will I accomplish this task?” A determined attitude, an internal spirit that says, “I will until…” a focus on dividing the awesome task into small parts is how tasks are accomplished. If the task is “eat an elephant.” then you start by taking one bite at a time. Meditate on the Los Angeles Dodger manager’s quote today. Think about how determined you are to work on the task from this song that Florence Price introduced in the early 70’s.

“Someday a bright new wave will break upon the shore
And there will be no sickness, no more sorrow, no more war,
And little children never will go hungry anymore,
For there’ll be a bright new morning over there,
There’ll be a bright new world for us to share.

“Someday there’ll be an end to unkind words and cruel,
The one who said there is no God will know they’ve been a fool,
And peace will be a way of life with love the only rule
For there’ll be a bright new morning over there,
There’ll be a bright new world for us to share.”

So the question comes to us again. If we are going to pursue excellence and we really do believe it is attainable, then how determined are you, are we to be the people in this world who tackle the challenge created in the lyrics of the song above? “Blessed are the peacemakers,” we are told. How determined are you?

Have a very good weekend!

--Ben Keckler
11.04.11