I have to admit, most of the time when I go out into the wilderness, I do not want to come back. Back to reality. Back to the drama raging in our world.
Sometimes I come back to find out someone famous has died of a drug overdose. Yet another bombing. Sometimes I come back to see my social media connections pinging back and forth about some injustice. Sometimes I reenter “civilization” and it simply is not.
Not civilized.
And it makes me long to go back into the wild where it is.
Civilized.
Not because I want to stick my head in the sand and pretend there is not something happening. Not because I want to deny that something needs to change.
I am the change and I know it. Each one of us is the change and we know it. But the problem is, what needs to change?
The truth is, most of the drama we see is over the symptoms and not the real problem. We are not hashtagging about what really matters.
Social media is a double edge sword. It connects us to the world around us at the same time that it dividing us. Killing us. We are able to respond instantly to everything around us at our most emotional moments without thought to consequence.
Without any thought at all for our fellow man.
We are not one community. We are not connected.
You have probably seen some of the latest posts on why hiking makes happy people. Healthy people. Actual brain research. And it is all true.
But I’ll tell you my favorite reason for being out in the wilderness is something entirely different.
We are a community. We are a family. We watch out for one another. Do we all share the same beliefs? No. But we feel a connection to one another just by being outdoors together.
You meet someone and you become instant friends. You assume the best first.
That’s how it supposed to be for all of us.
As a Christian I could talk here about my faith and what we need and what we have been told to do, but the truth is almost every religion in the world has those same principles. You don’t even need religion to have principles. Human principles. Golden Rule kind of principles. As a Christian I don’t hold a monopoly on basic decency. Justice, Peace, Love. We should all want them.
That’s what connects us.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Do we feel safe? Do we feel like we belong? I don’t think we do right now.
What does it mean to be the change? Don’t talk to me about advocacy or protest or writing my representative. And not because those are not all meaningful things.
I say be the change by creating a sense of connection and belonging with those in your own community. Demonstrate understanding, the willingness to listen and accept differences. One on one relationships with real people. Move beyond stereotypes and profiles to interact with your fellow man. On either side of the fence. Treat that stranger with the common decency you would your mother or brother.
Just because we ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
There’s only ONE boat, people. And we are all in it.
You and me.
That makes change.
Community.
Make it and be it.
And maybe get out into the wilderness a bit more. Find out what those of us on the trail are experiencing. That might help, too.
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