The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
May 18, 2008
Vol. 11 no. 19

Everything But...
           6:51 p.m. (EDT) on Mother’s Day will not go down in infamy. It was the minute I completed my first draft of Philoxenus of Mabbug’s Discourses, the final 625th page after nearly three years of on and off work. I am already back into it, working on the second draft where I must now pay attention to words, phrases and sentences I couldn’t quite solve the first time. You can never really translate perfectly from one language into another, but sometimes you try anyway.
          Then comrade in such matters, Kristian Heal (real name!), called me up and offered the comforting statistics that the last text I translated amounted to 61,200 words. This current one amasses 111,600, nearly twice as much. I am not sure I like numbers when they are attached to words like that, but Kristian’s jest reminded me of an old principle.
          At Faith United Church in International Falls, Minnesota, there has been in existence for over 30 years an outreach and missions group with the name you can’t forget or ignore, the Elephant Eaters. Of course, everyone has to ask why such a name, and their answer begins with “How do you solve the vast problems and suffering in this world from a small isolated town?” The same way you eat an elephant - one piece at a time!
          So, one word at a time, one musical note, one person helped, one person listening to just one person, and if you don’t worry about the numbers, in time something marvelous can be achieved - a translation, a song, a life. Our society insists loudly that results have to be counted and performed quickly. How many restaurants have promised a free meal if not served in a certain time? Let’s be radical and do something really big by just plugging along, enjoying every minute, one piece at a time.