Dec 05 2008
Change in the world
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
— Mohandas Gandhi
I know that there are things I admit that I wish could change in the world. I also admit to the fact that I often just feel too small to make a big impact. I felt this quote really tied into the post I blogged on just a few days ago, about making small differences in the lives of people.
I believe something we’ve all really had to start to learn the past couple years in this recession is how to spend our money more wisely, and our focus on such tangible items has lessened dramatically, out of necessity. It is my hope that we as a human body have realized because of this action, that our focus should be more directed to the people that are important in our lives.
How can we impact the world, when we feel so small? I know I focus on my family, my church, my community. While this does start small, I think the impact can be big.
At Thanksgiving, our church decided to help out four families in need, that would not have had a Thanksgiving dinner due to poverty. We all took die cut turkeys and feathers with items written on it, and went shopping. Collectively, as a church, we were able to end up feeding 12 families a full complete turkey dinner, with our initial simple actions. I know my act was simple. My kids picked turkey gravy and two liter bottles of soda. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it obviously made a bid difference. The most important element in that, is that it made a huge impact on my children, who understood how we helped our community.
By obtaining a sense of community, I have grown as an individual, and I can’t wait to see the outcome in my own children. I do see it in the faces of other children, and am filled with delight, when they innocently give of themselves without abandon. Change the world - sure, why not. One step at a time, one project at a time, one smile at a time.
Blessings.
