My Little Part

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” Robert Swann

I am going back into my own corner. I’m ignoring the news as much as possible. I’m not riling myself with the snippets on social media. Om!

It’s not that I have less concern. It is that I am conserving my energy for the work that needs to be done – now and in the years to come. And I must think and act within my own mission rather than be swept along with that of others.

Each of us have our job to do.

My tasks are not momentous, but they are meaningful to me.

I’m wearing my Safety Pin. This feels important – that anyone who understands the significance can know immediately that I am open to people of all races, religions, genders, and sexualities. That I believe that we love who we love and we worship in the way we choose. That there is no color or ethnicity that I find objectionable or threatening.

And I’m visiting my neighboring apartment complex with pages printed in Spanish. Not, as usual, to say “Buenas Tardes,” to the elderly man and the middle-aged couple who sit in the afternoon light. Nor to order their delicious handmade tamales or chile rellenos for the supper.  No, this time I am going to give them important information in case they, their friends, their family members, or their neighbors are caught in the web of mistrust that seems to be targeting Latinos in our country.

I’m going to smile and talk and let them know that I see them as people and as a part of my community, not as interlopers.

And I’m preparing for my next meeting of an Ad Hoc Committee to which I have been appointed. The Mayor and City Council of our small town has asked us to draft a resolution welcoming the only Mosque within at least 150 miles in all directions.

I’m smiling as I remember visiting with the Muslim women at their last potluck. They were an inclusive group of women from Pakistan, from Turkey, from Fiji, and from all over our county and the world. It made for some exotic food as well as old standbys. Conversation was fascinating as we discovered how much we share in this life while we marveled at our different experiences.

These are my people jobs.

But my most important task in the next few years is to truly comprehend my privilege and how I can share it. It is to think deeply about solutions within my reach. It is to reach into my heart and my pockets to support the causes that I believe in. It means keeping my eyes open to injustice and bullying.

Life won’t be all potlucks and great conversations. And it won’t be all meditation and enlightenment. Hopefully, it will help in change, tho. In my little corner of the world it will be the best I can make it for myself and those around it.

xxoo