a quote of the day for friday

"Community is like a large mosaic.  Each little piece seems so insignificant.  One piece is bright red, another cold blue or dull green, another warm purple, another sharp yellow, another shining gold.  Some look precious, others ordinary.  Some look valuable, others worthless.  Some look gaudy, others delicate.  As individual stones, we can do little with them except compare them and judge their beauty and value.  When, however, all these little stones are brought together in one big mosaic portraying the face of Christ, who would ever question the importance of any one of them?  If one of them, even the least spectacular one, is missing, the face is incomplete.  Together in the one mosaic, each little stone is indispensable and makes a unique contribution to the glory of God.  That's community, a fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world."--Henry Nouwen

We all matter.  Equally.  No one is more important than another; no one is less important than another.  And together, we create beauty.  Each of us has purpose within this larger plan.  A beautiful thought for a beautiful morning.

From Henry Nouwen: Writings Selected With an Introduction by Robert A. Jonas (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998), 96-97.