The Color of Changing the World

“You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply,

with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.

You are here to enrich the world.” 

(Woodrow Wilson)

I want to dedicate this week's musings to you; I want to remind you that it is a miracle that you exist. In his article, "The Cosmological Improbability of You," Alexander Green reminds us of all that had to happen for you and I to incarnate. All of our ancestors survived long enough to procreate; the earth is the right distance from the sun to sustain life; gravity and atmosphere are perfect; a thousand details are just right - so that we can be here, at this time.

You are a miracle! There are 7.3 billion (and counting) people on this big blue planet, and there is not a single other one just like you. Nobody has your combination of gifts and skills, experience and wisdom. You have survived every challenge that life has put before you; you have surpassed every pitfall, every loss, for here you are today reading this. YOU are amazing.

“I have never been especially impressed

by the heroics of people

convinced they are about to change the world.

I am more awed by those who struggle

to make one small difference.” 

(Ellen Goodman)

So much energy, Love, struggle, and wonder have gone into bringing you to this moment. Thousands of years of history have created countless family tree branches that have been interwoven to become your story. You are not an accident, nor are you insignificant, for Love has gone to extreme measures to ensure that you exist. 

Knowing this, that Divine Love has paved a road from the beginning of time that leads right to you, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished through you. In this day our world will be changed because of your presence in it. The simplest acts of kindness, forgiveness, and compassion will be a pebble in humanity's path, turning the wheel of its cart into a new direction. 

“Remember, the change you want to see in the world,

and in your school,

begins with you.” 

(Joseph Clementi)

So be the brilliant you that Love created you to be. Don't fret over failures and shortcomings - we all have to fall if we're going to learn to walk, run and dance. Instead, fall often, and just as often dust yourself off and keep going. Aim high and at the same time be attentive to all of the moment-to-moment opportunities to inspire the people you meet with the depth of your kindness. 

Most of all, aim to change the world by changing you. Let go of the resentments, the bitterness, the fears - these are not your truths. You are far too beautiful to let such things mask your light. In this day you will make someone's life easier just by your presence; you will uplift someone by saying thank you; you will heal someone by withholding the judgment your mind wants to spew. In this day, all that you are - thousands of years in the making - will change humanity's course.

“A small change can make a big difference.

You are the only one

who can make our world a better place to inhabit."

(Ankita Singhal)

Take care of yourself so that you are brilliant, so that there is a keen edge to the blade of your being. As you shine brightly so may your family be healed, so may your community be whole, so may our world be at peace.

I leave the last word to Jesus, who saw in you the light of the world: 

“You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden."

(Matthew 5.14)

The color of changing the world...

healing hearts one at a time.

1200 pounds

of horse

40 pounds

of saddle

180 pounds

of human

are all undone

by

one

tiny

burr

Breathe

laugh

burr

To Ponder Further:

- From the Bible: "You are the salt of the earth..." (Matthew 5.13)

- From Hinduism: "When the light of Atman drives out our darkness that light shines forth from us, a sun in splendor, the revealed Brahman." (Bhagavad Gita 5.15-16)

- From Sioux Traditional Wisdom: 

"I am blind and do not see the things of this world; but when the light

comes from above, it enlightens my heart and I can see, for the Eye of my

heart sees everything; and through this vision I can help my people.  The

heart is a sanctuary at the center of which there is a little space,

wherein the Great Spirit dwells, and this is the Eye." (Black Elk)