Causes

I read something said by Abraham Lincoln that blew me away.  He was dedicating the war grave at Gettysberg.  He said (and I paraphrase) “….we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.  The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.”  I love that, but it is the next bit that I find so pertinent. “It is for us the living…to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus so nobly advanced.”
This has got me thinking about causes.  It seems that scarcely for a good cause will one pay the ultimate sacrifice.  I really admire anyone on the front line.  Basically, anyone who’s job may involve the total giving of themselves.  It is probably why leaders talk about grappling with sending people into harm’s way. 
We saw a rat.  We knew he had to be dealt with.  We put rat poison out.  We put it in really surreptitious places.  It was to us a worthy cause.  We have not seen the rat since nor have we seen any evidence of collateral damage.  I am thankful that for most of us, life is not considered cheap, and we deal harshly with those of a contrary view.
The thing is, I rally to a cause.  Something I believe in.  The trouble is, sometimes I find that things happen which raise more questions than answers.  Sometimes it can be that things just happen to force me out of the nest.  Out of my comfort zone.  At other times the grievance is genuine, and I have been done wrongly by.
Unfortunately, that is going to happen.  No matter how well meaning, everyone lets me down at some point.  For good friends it is often a case of not meaning to, but it happens.  For others it may be just advancing their agenda.
Whatever the case, I feel I need to remain true to myself.  It is unrealistic of me to expect others to be perfect.  I am not.  They are not.  Whatever the case, I feel it is never right to run another down.  The fact is, that could be me.  Most folk are just trying to hustle up a living like the rest of us.
I also reckon I need to be brutally frank with myself.  My self-assessment needs to be honest.  I may be true to myself, but myself needs work.  It is important to me that I forget everything that has gone before (after all now is now, not then) and I reach out to and continue to hold on to what I believe in.  I am not yet necessarily what I aspire to.  That does not make all my activity invalid until I achieve nirvana.  The imperfection of an individual does not negate the worthiness of a goal.  It may be that it highlights my inadequacies, but when it is a goal I consider worth rallying to, then count me in.
That is where the cause comes into play for me.  When it is something I believe in, I will run the course and no obstacle is a show-stopper.  Anything untoward that happens is only an irritation.  I may know joy and disappointment, but it is all a part of the whole and not an end itself.  If I remain true to myself, I have done all I can do.