By Todd J. Sukol
There are moments when your work in the nonprofit sector will seem futile. You begin to wonder, “Am I really moving the needle or just filling up time and space?”; “Is it worth it?” If you are staff, you may consider abandoning the grind and pursuing a job making more money in the commercial sector. If you are a volunteer or donor, you begin to think the whole enterprise may be a vanity. Are you just fooling yourself, or maybe even being taken for a ride?
These are the times when we need to remember that we are princes and princesses. We possess royal power. Nonprofit work is holy work and it requires our very best selves if we are to succeed. We renew our resolve by looking inward. We need to access our deepest motives for making change. We cannot afford to just go through the motions. Our work requires ever-renewing connection to our internal fire in order to carry us through the hard times until our efforts pay off. And at the same time, we must check the passion of our hearts with the strategic thinking of our minds. We add our best thinking to that of our co-travelers — volunteers and staff alike. We chart new courses, try new approaches, and yes… we put our heads down and persevere with those things that seem to be working.
“The greatest sin of man is to forget that he is a prince — that he has royal power,” said Abraham Joshua Heschel in A Passion for Truth. “All worlds are in need of exaltation,” he continued, “and everyone is charged to lift what is low, to unite what lies apart, to advance what is left behind.” That is the work in which you are engaged. Renew your heart, engage your head, and speak your truth. The work of your hands will carry more power when you do.