“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it”.
This is from a book about the Wisdom of the Jewish Sages. It is an interpretation of part of the Torah, where assumed context has been manually added back in.
I find this to be a profound bit of wisdom, helping me to recall that the work we do is enormous and can be overwhelming, yet continue we must. We shouldn’t think we are doing this on our own, we don’t have to complete it ourselves. We also can’t just walk away and pretend it doesn’t need to be done.
Sometimes, though, it is important to rest and heal. We can do so in the trust that someone else has continued to take up the work, even if we cannot see it.
When we are ready again, we pick up the task and continue. Others also need to be able to rest and heal.
The work is worthy.