There is some pretty terrible stuff happening in the world. Don’t believe me, turn on the news, go to cbc.ca or listen to a preacher telling you how near the end of time is. Better (well in a way) yet, find a Facebook group that talks about the happenings in a given community. I made the morbid mistake of joining one such negativity-fests a few weeks ago, and since then I have seen nothing but complaints. The worst part about it is that while depressing, all the complaints come from some degree of truth. My hometown is facing significant property crime, still suffering the economic impact of the recession and enduring a drug abuse epidemic.
It’s not all bad – but the bad is real.
The question must then be asked – what are we going to do about it? I think we’ll find broad agreement that whether we are talking about our hometowns, overseas wars or global economic and social crises, there are a number of problems in our world today. Where the agreement begins to break down is when we begin to discuss what to do about those problems. There are a number of attitudes I have encountered. You have the defeatist who says “nothing can be done”, the alarmist who says “everything is wicked and there is no good left”, the prophet who says “this is just another sign of the end”, and the list goes on. Well perhaps I’m naive but I for one think that there are things that can and should be done – so here are a few suggestions.
Own it.
One of the things I hear a lot is how people talk about their community using third person adjectives. They are out of control. They need to fix this or that. They should work harder to make this a better place. My question is always, who are they? I am a part of this community – so if there is a problem I am part of they. We need to stop talking about them and start talking about us. If we truly care about our communities then we need to invest ourselves deeper into them. We need to take ownership and responsibility for the problems, and begin coming up with solutions.
Accept that we can change the world.
The most common question I hear when I talk about making the world a better place is – what can one person do about it? The answer is limitless. If you look through history you will see countless individuals who have taken a stand and made a difference. Of course then you will probably point out that none of these people actually accomplished anything truly on their own – but the same will be true for you. Once you start working on making a positive difference people will come alongside you. Become a leader for change.
See both good and bad.
Both are in the world. It’s not helpful to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the bad isn’t there; because if we don’t see it we’ll never act to fix it. It’s also not helpful to be so focussed on the problems of the world that we lose our hope. We need to find a healthy balance of realistically identifying opportunities for change and seeking opportunities to laugh, sing and smile. It’s also in seeing the good of our communities that we begin to find solutions for the bad. In 1993 the new US President said in his inaugural speech “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right with America.” The optimist inside me says that this is true of every community, every nation and of the whole world.
Don’t wait for someone else.
Especially not political leaders! Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to turn this into a politician bashing post. For every 9 crooks there is usually one honest woman or man fighting for their community! Jokes aside, there is good that can and should be done through the democratic process. I encourage all readers to take an active role in the civic affairs of your city, province or country, find leaders you support and engage with them and vote. But don’t think that voting every 4 years is enough to make your world a better place. And don’t expect that even with the best, brightest and most concerned leaders imaginable that you won’t still have work to do. If you see some good that needs doing – do it!
Be prepared to be the first one changed.
The hardest part about changing the world is that we often have to start with, as Michael Jackson put it, “The Man In The Mirror”. One of the things I’ve come to realize is that many of the problems I have identified around me have my fingerprints on them. Let me give a few examples. I want to see big changes made to the amount of oil we pull out of the earth and the ways in which we do it; but I still burn a tank of gas every week and I still use products made from petroleum byproducts (even the computer from which I am blogging). I hate the practices of companies like WalMart that underpay their workers and import their products from countries where slavery is virtually still practiced; but I still don’t want to pay more than $25 for a pair of jeans (my wife has been helping a lot with this one, and I’m happy to report that we haven’t spent a dime at that particular offender in over a year.) The point being – we all need to take personal responsibility to ensure we don’t contribute to the very problems we want to solve.
Finally; don’t let yourself be overcome with the weight of the world – make whatever difference you can, wherever you are.
Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me – Jesus
Kingdom Dialogues 