Change starts with ourselves, and maybe we will see a difference in the world

In our worship last Sunday, we read a passage of scripture that focuses on how we should live in community, one with another.

The guidance we are given tells us that if we feel that someone has done something to us that we are uncomfortable with, we should go to them and talk it out. Similarly, if we have done something to someone else, we should be prepared to listen to them and to find common ground. I think we are living in a time when we do not address our differences in a constructive and civil manner. We spend far too much time staring at our phones, scrolling through mindless ads and memes designed to get our attention, and we ignore everything that is going on around us.

How many of us know of someone that we need to forgive? How many of us know of someone who has hurt us and we would rather not address it but let it tear us up inside? How many of us know of someone we have hurt that we could reach out to and make amends?

Someone offends us, and we blow up in anger. Someone says something we disagree with, and we attack them. Someone listens to music that we do not like, and we judge them. We see someone who doesn't dress like we do, and we dismiss them.

What can we do to help create a community that we want to live in? Can we play a role in reducing violence in our larger community? Can we volunteer with an organization that helps others, that feeds others, that listens to those in need?

The great prophet of peace, Mahatma Gandhi, once wrote, "We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change." This quote has been altered by many to say, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Both the original quote and the oft-quoted one reinforce the same powerful message, you and I each have work to do in our own lives. If we focus on becoming better people, more kind and more loving, then before we know it, the world will be different, too.

Change really does start at home. Let us all commit to finding ways that we can be more like the beings that God created us to be. Let us commit to looking at others with more kindness and acceptance; who knows, maybe we will see a real difference. I certainly hope so!

The Rev. Dr. Stewart Rawson is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in downtown Sumter.