Albert Pike was an interesting individual and over his life time uttered many quotes of interest. His endeavors included being a lawyer, soldier, explorer, poet, author, newspaper publisher and high ranking Freemason. He is the only Confederate Civil War General to have a statue erected to him in Washington, DC. The statue stands in Judiciary Square. He was honored for his work as a Freemason and only after President Andrew Johnson pardoned him after the Civil War.
One of my favorite Pike quotes:
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”~~Albert Pike
This is one of the quotes I often read when working with Relay For Life. I see two interpretations of this quote. The first being that if you want to be remembered, in a good light, do things for other people. The second, and the one I subscribe to, is that what you do for other people will affect those that come after you.
That is the way I feel about Relay For Life. What we do today has effects on others but those effects probably will not be seen in our life times. See; that is, I believe, what holds people from jumping in and helping. Not just RFL but any task that has results they can not see immediately.
We live in a society that wants immediate results on everything we do. That is evident in everything around us. The faster computer, the faster phone and things like on demand television channels are examples of that. Even investing has become a get in and get out with as much profit as I can proposition.
We have lost site of the fact that sometimes progress takes time. I feel that too. I want that cure today not tomorrow. Let alone 20 years from now. But if we do not work on this or any other problem now then the solving of it will be much farther off.
I have my own reasons for working with Relay For Life; as every person does. And believe me it has nothing to do with personal gain as some shallow minded people believe. What I gain from this,what we all should gain from any charitable work, is a satisfaction that in some small way we are leaving a legacy of hard work toward the solving of a problem.
Read this quote again,,
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”~~Albert Pike
There is a cause and effect here. While doing something for others will live on as immortal, DOING NOTHING FOR OTHERS also lives on as immortal but in ways that leave you in the dark not the light.
Love ya,
Night
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