Love or Fear?

On New Year’s Eve this year, I arrived in Mumbai and had the opportunity to visit Mahatma Gandhi’s house during my stay. Here is a picture of me fulfilling a lifelong dream come true. When I was there, I looked at his portrait very closely, with a whole new recognition of what he meant when he said

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

I had the famous quote hanging in my classroom for years. And, looking back now, I realize that I never REALLY understood what he meant by it. Although, the funny thing is, I thought I did! I mean, it seems simple enough, right? You just change in you what you want to see different out in the world. But this is the part that us humans have the most difficulty with.

I mean, it seems easier sometimes to go out and change others, protest, become indignant, and fight against the wrongs we see in the world, then it is to take a real look at ourselves, attending to cleaning up our own lives. Not that we shouldn’t participate out in the world, but that is only part of it. It comes down to learning to observe the place in which we ACT from—is it love or fear? Are we just like the people we criticize, blame, or judge then?

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