So much is going on in the world scene lately. Horrific storms and fires, along with the violence of human vs human that also seems to be erupting around us.
So what, can I, just one person, do to change what is going on around me? I understand the desire to either avoid the news, social media or just, figuratively, bury our heads in the sand.
But there is a better option!
John Pavlovitz, Christian minister, expresses the thoughts that we are all feeling in his recent article: When Cruelty is Trending.
“Regardless of our political affiliations and religious convictions, many of us can 
see it clearly and we can feel it pressing down like a heavy stone upon our chests: cruelty is trending here…
“We can’t wait for our political or religious leaders to raise the bar because that may never again happen. We’re going to have to do that ourselves. We who are burdened by this enmity are going to have to raise the flag for simple decency and fight to defend it with the very best of ourselves. We’re going to have to combat this vicious illness by not perpetuating it.”
First, we need to stop figuring out who is at fault; what political candidate will ‘solve’ our problems; or what organization we can join or contribute money to that will work on our behalf to bring kindness and peace to our lives.
We cannot change anyone else other than ourselves! We can decide to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Let’s not allow ‘cruelty to trend’ in our families and lives.
Have you ever no
ticed how even a simple smile given to a stranger can brighten both your day and theirs?
Let’s consciously decide to allow love and compassion as the trend in our lives, despite what we see in the world.
My thoughts center around a quote from Gandhi: We need to … “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Let each of us, individually and as a people, be and express the loving change we want to see in the world.
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