A young cyclist's senseless death in a traffic accident in Chicago. Our excessive reliance on the use of automobiles. Our society's dependence on foreign oil. Genetic manipulation of our food, and barbaric treatment of animals. Relentless materialism, even as wars, hunger and abject poverty plague huge numbers of people around the world. Unspeakable acts committed against human being by other human (?!) beings in the name of profit. Leagues of orphaned, desperately poor and enslaved children. The world run by corporate greed.
One thought leads to another, and you can't stop. I recently found comfort in the following quote by Barbara Kingsolver: "I believe our largest problems have grown from the earth's remotest corners as well as our own back yards, and that salvation may lie in those places, too." (emphasis added).
We cannot solve problems bigger than ourselves. Sure, we can, and should throw our energy behind causes we believe in, and support efforts to improve life on earth for everyone. But ultimately, we only have control over our own actions. If everyone's actions consistently mirrored their most closely held beliefs and values, how different would that world be from the one we currently inhabit?
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