All eyes are upon Washington or so it seems and the words from Matthew come to me,
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
“Follow me and let’s turn this social order upside down.”
It doesn’t feel like there’s much that I can do right now. I have work responsibilities, I have family responsibilities, I have school responsibilities. To make it clear that I am not being partisan I have often felt the same way with President Obama. Ed Snowden, 600 billion on defense, a justice system that favors the rich, I could go on.
Twitter and Facebook are overwhelming me right now.
But then I saw this:
“One of the greatest evils of the day among those outside the proximity of the suffering poor is their sense of futility. Young people say, ‘What good can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?’ They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the action of the present moment but we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes.
The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us? When we begin to take the lowest place, to wash the feet of others, to love our brothers with that burning love, that passion, which led to the cross, then we can truly say, ‘Now I have begun.'” -Dorothy Day
She’s right. The kingdom of God is different. It doesn’t operate according to the machinations of the world. It is like a mustard seed, beginning in the midst of insignificance and far away from consultants, lobbyists and the halls of power. And because it’s different I am called to be different. How can I bring about a revolution of the heart?
This evening I will go home to my wife and two girls. I can expect them to serve me or I can serve them. I can treat them as objects below me or as human beings created in the image of God. I can use force when I get angry with them or I can communicate to them why I am upset. I can hold a grudge when they hurt me or I can forgive them and make things right. I can objectify others and rip them apart or I can speak well of them and even show empathy. Such actions and responses will inform how they will view the world around them and how they will behave and interact with others.
It’s all connected.
We are all connected.
A Foolish Way 