Saturday, October 25, 2014

Let's do this thing!

Clearing the Air

The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual—for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged, and ultimately won or lost.” M. Scott Peck

No pressure here, but did you get the full weight and responsibility of that quote from M. Scott Peck? We humans, individually and collectively, are responsible for the whole course of human history. I hear you saying, “Well, duh! Humans—human history, right?” But, I don't think we truly understand the role we, as singular people, play in that scenario, and how very difficult it is to change even one human heart—our own.

We live in incredibly negative times. It's a global problem as well as an individual problem. As we're approaching the mid-term elections here in the U.S., there's enough negatively charged hot air flying around to fuel entire fleets of aircraft carriers. And then there's all the bickering and murderous in-fighting among various religious sects in the middle east, and folks dying by the hundreds in Africa. The world is on fire, and our response is to fuss and fight about who's responsible, and who's not doing enough, and who's job it is to take care of all that smoke.

Believe it or not, there are people who are trying to stay positive, who are doing everything they can to make a difference in the lives of others. There was a segment on last night's news about some guys in Detroit who are pitching in to take care of public parks, since the city can no longer afford to maintain them. They're teaming up, and bringing the equipment to mow and trim and clean, so children have a decent place to play. And another story of one little girl who decided to grow vegetables for homeless people in a small plot in her yard. That mushroomed into a whole movement—now there are more than 500 'little farmers' doing the same thing. There are so many good things happening in this world. We can stay positive. We can do what we can do. We can put our hands, and hearts, and minds to good use. Let's do this thing! Let's not waste our breath criticizing, but find one thing close to hand that we can do to make a difference.

                                                   In the Spirit,

                                                        Jane

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