One of the goals I have in my life is to make the world a better place. What does that even mean? It can mean different things to different people. We hold different values, and that’s natural. However, there are some values I hope most people choose to hold.
Poverty.
I would love to see a world where everyone has access to adequate housing, food, and the opportunity to earn a fair wage. At first glance history seems to suggest we’re not going to see that anytime soon. Let’s not let it deter us from stretching ourselves to change that history. In fact, statistics indicate the trend is changing—global poverty is in a decline. Let’s keep doing things locally and globally to keep the trend going in the right direction. Let’s be part of creating a more equitable distribution of our resources.
Equality.
Every person and social group should have equal rights and access to social goods and services, and employment. No one should be discriminated against because of their race, colour, gender, faith, or sexual orientation. Unfortunately we know that isn’t the case. We have a lot of work to do. I’d love to see our country make changes in the areas where we still find discrimination. There’s lots out there. Let’s be part of the change.
Environment.
Thankfully in the last decade we’ve seen the beginnings of a global awakening that is responding to the environmental threat we’ve inflicted on our planet. I’m hopeful that this trend will grow. But, it will only happen if we get involved to make it so. We are blessed to live on a planet with more than enough resources to sustain us. Our challenge is to steward those resources in a more responsible and equitable manner.
Faith.
Sure, I want everyone to come to know God as my faith heritage has led me to understand. My faith leads me to believe that day is coming, but in the meantime, I’d love for us to simply move towards a place where all faith groups and individuals are respectful of everyone’s freedom of choice, including the choice not to believe in any god. We don’t have to interpret things the same way to get along. Let’s stop using religion to promote violence and abuse of power. Let’s gravitate towards a non-violent world where diversity is embraced and inequality is rejected.
There’s a lot of work to be done in each of these areas. It can be overwhelming to think about all that needs to be done to make the world a better place, and it can paralyze us, make us think we can’t do it, that our individual actions won’t matter. I urge you to reject this way of thinking and embrace the reality that we can make the world a better place.
It all starts with the choices we make every day, including choosing to believe we can do this. Join me.
Let’s make the world a better place.
