Be The Change

I just got off the phone with my Dad; our annual Father's Day conversation. Not to say that it is our only conversation in a year, but he is not exactly a big phone talker. When we do talk it is usually long and intense. Topics covered are often heavy and political. This is something that I love about my dad. Although our discussions often push all my buttons and get me all worked up, I love the dialogue.

Today our conversation covered, among other topics, the recently finished Truth and Reconciliation events in Winnipeg. My dad is frustrated by the appearance of addressing the systematic decimation of a culture without a change in the daily interactions between government and First Nations peoples.

Truthfully I don't follow the news much- generally I find it depressing and am discouraged by the brokenness in the world around me. For a species blessed with the ability to learn from our mistakes and the potential for incredible creativity and kindness, we are wracked by constant violence and misery. Seeing the planet-wide scope of it played out in the news daily is not good for my headspace. The day to day reality of that in my own sphere of existence is enough to cope with much of the time.

Anyway, we discussed the issue of the inequality between the bulk of Canadians who live our version of the American dream and our First Nations. We mourned the horrible history of Canada's government with First Nations and wrestled with the issues that history has left in our collective laps today; generations of adults with no connection to their own culture, unable to parent their own children well, hurting others out of their own hurt; a cycle that is carried through generations.

And yet there are many who rise above those hurts and that history to put their energies into building a new future.

There are parents and elders who fight for education for their children. There are aunties and uncles who protest faithfully against broken promises. There are grandparents who take the government to court to insist on justice. There are leaders who fearlessly insist in a higher standard in daily life and work because we are here for the next generation, not for ourselves.

My only answer to anyone's frustrations in a situation where there is injustice or wrong is to be the change that you want to see in the world. Look to those who are already stepping up and insisting that we as a nation be in action what we preach in word to the rest of the world.

So, what can you do about those issues that plague you? How can you be the change in your own sphere of influence? Write letters to prod the conscience of politicians; they are in office to serve. Share your own wealth with those who are without; there will always be someone who has less than you do. Find some person or place that can be helped or healed by your skills and talents and share them freely.

Find a way to be the change that will make this world better. Because if you and I don't, who will?