With the Black Lives Matter campaign rightly continuing to feature prominently in news headlines, I’m posting today a section from my new book, Seize the Say: A Mindful Guide to Fuller Living, as it seems particularly appropriate for this time. Yes, I’m concerned, as many are, by nihilistic agitators using legitimate protests as a vehicle for violence and wanton destruction, and I believe careful thought, rather than a knee-jerk response, is essential as to the future of statues and memorials to those now discredited, but there is no doubt that the time to stand up for Black rights is long overdue and that the recent groundswell of support must not be wasted. Nor can we leave it simply to others; we all must speak and work for change if we would truly see it happen.
In a world of pain and anguish
We must become the change we wish to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
To none will we sell, to none deny or delay, right or justice.
The Magna Carta
Speak up, judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and those in need.
Proverbs 31:9
In a world of pain and anguish,
do not say, ‘Will nothing ever change?’
Say rather, ‘How can I make change happen?’
For that is what matters:
not spotting what’s wrong,
but striving to put things right,
resolving, in whatever ways you can, to make a difference.
The injustice experienced by so many –
you can’t rectify it alone,
for whatever you do will be the merest drop in the ocean,
but don’t let that stop you trying,
for, as someone once put it,
little strokes fell mighty oaks.
The hatred and intolerance that creates such division –
you can’t begin to overcome those singlehandedly,
but don’t use that as an excuse for doing nothing,
for even the most ambitious of ventures has to begin somewhere.
The needs that go unmet,
prejudices that go unchallenged,
suffering that goes untended,
evil that goes unchecked –
your protest against these may be a voice in the wilderness,
but are we not told that for wrong to thrive
all it needs is for good people to do nothing?
It’s easy to highlight the ills of society,
much harder to address them;
easy to point out what ails the world,
another matter to restore it to health.
We can’t do much on our own,
and whatever we attempt may seem like a futile gesture,
an empty whistling in the wind,
but if each of us leaves it to others,
then rest assured,
we will continue to say,
‘Will nothing ever change?’
For nothing ever shall.
Amen. Thank you, Nick. xx
Thanks, Val xx