I’ve quoted William Barclay (1907 – 1978) the Scottish bible scholar and one of my favorite spiritual writers, in past posts. See 2/1/07 & 2/11/06. Another Barclay observation worth repeating is from his mediation book, Day by Day, where he says: "If a word of praise or thanks has to be spoken, it had better be spoken now -for life is an uncertain business, and you may never get the chance to speak it again…There is an old Latin proverb which says qui cito dat bis dat which means ‘He who gives quickly gives twice.’ A gift which is given in the moment of need is of double value. If we put off giving it, it may be too late to give it at all."

Barclay also urges persistence, even in small efforts, to achieve worthwhile goals. He suggests that if we keep steadily at a thing with repeated efforts, even if each effort is not much in itself, it can do big things in the end. He backs this up by writing "In Glasgow University, the famous Lord Kelvin used to illustrate the effect of small forces on large masses. In his classroom he would have a huge heavy lump of metal weighing as much as a hundredweight and more suspended from the ceiling. He would have a basket full of paper pellets and…would begin to bombard the heavy iron mass with the little pellets of paper. At first nothing happened; then after a time the iron mas would begin to tremble; then it would begin to move; and finally it would being to swing in a wide arc, and all through the effect of repeated blows with the little paper pellets…If you keep steadily at a thing, it is amazing what changes you can, in the end achieve."