Once upon a time there was an impoverished small town in which there were only four old clocks. One day all of them stopped working, and there was no clockmaker to fix them. So they were all left to rust, except one, which was oiled and cleaned and wound by the town fool as the cynical villagers looked on. One day, a watchmaker came to town and found all the clocks beyond repair but one―the town fool’s clock.

Equally, your spirituality needs tending even if it seems broken and beyond repair. The tending of the spirit is a joyous act, but it requires patience and diligence and staying power, especially in the absence of immediate, visible, audible, or tangible results.

As a practitioner of spirituality, you may find yourself criticized and even treated as a fool by your own “villagers.” Don’t be dissuaded, shamed, or discouraged. Practice for spiritual literacy again and again.

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