Making a Difference...

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” - Jane Goodall

Do we really believe this? How many people have you heard say, “there’s nothing I can do. I am too old, too young, too poor, too busy? Take your pick of these and a myriad of other excuses. And that’s all they are. For we make a statement with whatever we do. If we sit at home, if we go to a rally, if we ignore the homeless man on the street corner, we are making a statement. about who we are and what we believe.

My friend mentioned in her workplace that she was attending a lecture that evening on Current Issues in the Indigenous Communities. The following day someone in her workplace comment on her going adding the words:’They just need to go out and get themselves a real job!’ My friend was upset not knowing how to respond, and felt badly about her inability to do so. What she failed to realize however was that by going to the lecture and by mentioning it to her co-worker, she had made an impact on the person, and made a difference, however slight, to their perception of the indigenous community.

We seem to feel that only the big things we do are important, while in the meanwhile ignoring the impact we have as we live our lives day to day. Unfortunately we will never appreciate just how great this impact has been. But every moment we are alive has an impact on someone or other. Do we gossip? Are we someone who sees the best in people and situations? Are we sharing, compassionate? Do we make snide remarks about those who are different? What is the underlying tenet of your life? Love? Greed? Self-interest? Distributive justice? Retributive justice?

Your answers to the above only matters in that how you answer those questions defines how others see you, and hence what sort of an impact you will have. You do make an impact … and only you can decide what kind of an impact it will be.

“This is God’s message: Attend to matters of justice. Set thing right between people. Rescue victims from their explorers. Don’t take advantage of the homeless, the orphans, the widows. Stop the murdering” Jeremiah 22:3 [MSG]

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NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

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