The World is About to Change

With the 2020 US election behind us, I’ve been thinking about the moment, and what happens now.

Opportunities to cross the imaginary lines we draw between us, such as party affiliation, social status, identity, and others that are routinely used to define differences, can be changed into paths. People could surely stand on opposite sides of a road and shout at each other, or ignore each other. What if we take just a few steps closer, and as we begin to see each other more clearly, turn and begin walking together? The broader the lines that separate us, the wider the road we can walk together.

“Who are you?”

“Where do you come from?”

“What brought you here?”

“How can I help you reach your destination?”

“Why are you going there?”

Those simple questions answer so much. Even more enlightening still is when the person asking the questions can help the other person answer them, as a fellow traveler along the road of life.

The 2020 election is still sinking in, as a new moment in American history is set to begin. Surely, the influence our elected officials wield over all of our lives cannot be overstated, but more powerful than that, is how we interact with each other. The potential to effect positive change within our own natural and chosen families, all the way on up to our nation and our world, though, begins with the choices we make to do good the next time we interact with someone. We can follow the good examples set by those around us and derive the lessons we need to achieve Enlightenment as we meet one another on the road, and have a conversation. We can also set an example of compassion and empathy for ourselves, so that we have the right answer when we inevitably ask ourselves, “Who am I?” and when we must decide what to do when someone looks to us for a merciful or helping hand. As a society, we can progress only by listening carefully to each other and communicating, walking side by side, and walking behind someone to keep them from falling.

How does it begin? I think it begins with “Who are you?”

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