A Burst of Courage

 This week's quote reads, "It's time for a burst of courage again."

Our world, it seems, is going to hell in a handbasket, to use a well-worn, but sadly accurate, cliché. Too many parts of the world are experiencing war and violence, with all their dreadful consequences, and wide swathes of the rest are subject to "natural" disasters (for many are climate-change induced, which isn't natural, not really) - floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts, leading to widespread hardship. Not only for human beings, but for all living things. In many places, the people in power are persecuting those less powerful than themselves, with dreadful consequences.

So it's time for a burst of courage again. It's time to stand up for all the persecuted minorities, for our beleaguered planet. Time not to merely shake our heads sadly and turn the page or scroll on down. Time to get out and actually do something about it, however small. Because every little helps. Whether it is a letter to our MP, signing a petition, donating to a charity which helps to alleviate whatever the problem is. These are all easy things, which may be done from the comfort of our own home.

It is harder to make a sea-change in our own lives - to be like the Good Samaritan, to not "walk by on the other side." It takes courage and commitment to take part in a public protest; to resolve to shop ethically, rather than as cheaply as possible; to buy only what we need, rather than what the adverts seduce us into believing we need; to repair worn belongings rather than throwing them away; to go on a regular litter pick in our neighbourhood; to visit someone lonely; to have a smile and a friendly word for strangers; to volunteer at the local food bank or other local charity; to stand up for someone being bullied; and, most importantly, to treat every human being as though they were "unique, precious, a child of God" as the Quakers have it. Because they are, each and every one of them / us.

Being All In

 This week's quote reads, "You cannot go half 'all-out'."

With which sentiment I would thoroughly agree. I have always tried to be a committed sort of person - if I believe in something, I believe in it with my whole heart and want to align my life with that belief. Yet of course, I have often fallen short of that ideal, as most of us do, one time or another.

I admire people who are "all in" so much - they decide to stand behind (or up for) something they care deeply about, and nothing stops them from being a rock solid witness. Such people can change the world.

One example who comes to mind is Greta Thunberg - when she began her solitary school strike for climate change outside the Swedish Parliament seven years ago, she cannot have imagined the impact her action would have on so many people. She is entirely committed to working for climate justice and has made a massive difference to attitudes and awareness of this issue throughout the world (although I am sure she would say, far from enough - she is after action, not attitudes and awareness).

Being "all in" inevitably means going out of our comfort zones, not being "half-assed" but caring deeply enough about whatever it is to make a thorough-going commitment to ACT, in whatever ways are necessary, to make the change you desire happen. It means ignoring the reactions of the people around you, and remaining steadfast.

Yet so many things seem to get in the way of whole-hearted commitment - lack of time, lack of energy, conflicting calls on both time and energy, the temptation to take the easy route and let things slide. Most of us lack Greta's single-minded burning ambition, we fall short of total commitment. 

What do you care about enough to be single-minded, whole-hearted, completely committed to make the change you desire happen?