We’ve all seen the pictures, perhaps been at an event, rally or march. Smoke is rising in the street, a building or car is on fire, someone is injured or killed. In another setting, angry words, name-calling and a tennis match worth of volleys are sent back and forth online, people with strong emotions believing they can sway others to see things their way.
Those strategies rarely work. If they did we wouldn’t be seeing some of the same things we’ve observed over and over since the sixties. In reality, progress has been made in many areas where dissension has taken the stage in our culture – race, immigration, sexuality, government and more.
But changes were more the result of action than reaction, talking than walking, hearing than jeering.
The other night here in the Indianapolis area, police were seen hugging and conversing with protesters. The final answer? No, but a start. You see, more people are needed to begin a better way instead of fighting for their own way. Yes, there’s a lot of pain, hurt and disappointment often saddled with broken promises that make it hard to try another time or a different approach.
But we must. Let me suggest one initial action. It’s just a simple phrase and response. “Let’s do something.”
If you talk to a hundred protesters about any topic (and protesters can include government officials, media types, neighbors, relatives, clergy, etc.) and ask them, “So what are you doing to make things better?” a significant percentage won’t have an answer. Not a good one. Instead they want someone else to be responsible for the changes. Wrong.
We need to get over the idea that someone or something else is responsible for our success, well being, healing and improvement. If we want change, then we need to do something, our part, to help it happen. There are children and teenagers today doing way more than most adults to initiate transformation, help and improvement in the world around them.
Adults can learn from them. We can quit taking our anger out on groups of people when a few misguided individuals are the problem. We can stop demanding leaders alone fix our problems and instead jump in to help. In the medical program, New Amsterdam, the hospital director is known for his response to staff who have ideas for improvement to be which is, How can I help?
What could happen if the majority of Americans lived by that phrase? If nothing else there would be a lot more conversations that lead to significant change and a lot less clean up.
NeverQuitClimbing 