Faithfulness Rather Than Success

We are a pilgrim people, a people who have decided never to arrive, a people who live by hope, energized not by what we already possess, but by that which is promised: "Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth."

Sure, it's tiring and it's tough. Imagination comes harder than memory, and faithfulness is more demanding than success. But so what if we fail? Remember, we are not required to finish the task — any more than we are allowed to put it aside.

—William Sloane Coffin (1924-2006)