picking up my piece of the continent

"No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friend's
or of thine own were:
any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind,
and therefore
never send to know
for whom the bells tolls;
it tolls for thee..."

~ John Donne, Meditations XVII

I stumbled upon this today while doing some reading about Hemingway's For whom the bell tolls, and two thoughts popped into my head: 1. Simon & Garfunkel TOTALLY stole this idea for that song, "I am a rock," and 2. I love the first line, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, part of the main." I am sometimes surprised at how we lose an awareness of how important each of us is in community; how each one us is a significant, though maybe small piece of the puzzle.

Coming back from vacation I am exhausted, yet glad to pick up my piece of the continent and keep working.

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