risk

How we live is more than an issue of following the rules or not. The actions we take can start or contribute to the cycles of destruction (hatred, anger, malice, violence, theft, murder), or they can forge new paths of hope--creating new possibilites for ourselves and others.

Acting in ways that open paths of hope and change is risky. One risks being taken advantage of by those content with selfishness. One risks being rejected by those trapped in fear. One risks being persecuted by the protectors of the status quo. We are called to this risky path of turning the other cheek, giving up our shirts and coats, and of carrying the burdens of those who persecute us--not to mention that of giving to those who ask without any expectation of repayment. This is the risky way of changing the world.

Someone said that if nothing changes, then nothing changes. Someone else said that we must become the change we want to see in the world. I want to risk absolute failure. I want to risk being taken advantage of. I want to risk being rejected. I want to risk being stepped on by the powerful because of my proximity to the powerless. I want this because I believe that change is coming - because I believe that what will be is what should be and could be now. I want this because I believe that I am not the only one who wants this.