by Joan Chittister, osb
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace
I remembered an ancient saying attributed to Buddha not long ago that smacked far too much of the present than it did of the past: “There are only two mistakes on the way to truth. One is not going far enough and the other is not starting.”
I knew right away that we’re either on the verge of another mistake — or not. It all depends.
Very few ever get a second chance to get the really big things of life right. Really right.
On the personal level, recovery from error is always a slow and tenuous process. We fail at marriage and plod through life for years while all our other dreams shrivel with it. We get stuck in dead-end jobs, and there goes the kind of life for which we’d hoped.
But if mid-course corrections are difficult for individuals, they are even more difficult for major institutions….