Saturday 19 January 2008

What can one person do?

A while back, James and I rented the film "Amazing Grace", about a man named Wilberforce who pioneered the end of slavery in England. It was a moving example of the kind of difference one person can make in this world.

I have always been a humanitarian. I often feel as though there is so much change in this world that needs to happen, and there is so little I can do about it. I have dreams of teaching children in Africa, of digging wells and planting trees, of inspiring the youth of today to become leaders of tomorrow, of building homes in the islands hit by the tsunami, of stopping gun violence, of bringing warm clothes to the homeless in Eastern Europe, of reducing our footprint on this planet. I am antsy in one place, knowing how large the world is, how privileged my life is, and how much need is out there. My life feels full to the brink with daily duties, to the point that I fear I'll be stuck here forever, unable to affect anything at all.

There have been great men and women in history that combined passion with action to change the world in which they lived, and yet I think to most of us, they seem to be figures that are far beyond us.

But here are two quotes that I have come across lately, that are giving me hope that there is something that I can do.

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"Great men and women - some famous, most not..."
- Susan V. Bosak
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"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. "
- Elie Wiesel
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May I always remember to stand up for what I believe in, and remember that some of the greatest works I do will be within the walls of my own home.

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