Count That Day Lost

Count That Day Lost
by George Elliot, (Mary Ann Evans)

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done, and counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went - -
Then you may count that day well spent.
But if, through all the livelong day,
You’ve cheered no heart, by yea or nay - -
If through it all
You’ve nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face - -
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost - -
Then count that day as worse than lost.

A short note in email cheered me the other day. It was from someone that I am not particularly close to but correspond with through email on a regular basis. Mostly, I send email that might be considered encouraging or inspirational to a group of people that she is part of and apparently the things that I sent helped her through a difficult time.

She indicated to me that she felt that someone cared, that someone was thinking of her, was perhaps praying for her and walking with her, gently pulling her back to the path she needed to be on. She had drifted away and my emails were a reminder of a shared experience several years ago where we both, along with many others, experienced the incomparable, unmerited, unconditional love of Christ in our lives. Unknown to her, I too have found myself drifting and feeling apart. Her brief note lifted me on that day and made me feel that I need not count that day as lost... that perhaps no day is truly lost unless we give up on it.

Thank you Mary C.