Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
What you do today can improve all of your tomorrows. Ralph Marston
The world wasn’t simple during my childhood, we had the Cold War going on but it seemed like a wonderful safe place. Living in this world is safe where I am, but listening to the horror other people are going through I wonder what is it for? What is the end game, I understand some of it, but some of it I don’t understand. But, perhaps war to some is an economic driver and not the horror others see it as. Do we have competing interests, some wanting peace, and others wanting war, and we can’t always understand who is who?
We say our people are our strength, and people from other countries are giving us strength, but what are the people leaving their countries doing to their home country? Who will build and rebuild Haiti with so many people leaving?
Even in my household, we don’t agree on what is going on in the world, who is best to lead America, and what policies will heal our society. But, even if we don’t know how to heal the world, (and who does) we get along building our life.
What a job it would be to run a country. Knowing what policies to bring in and what the consequences down the road will be. There are always unintended consequences it seems. Things we mean for good don’t always work out that way because the hardest thing to figure out is what help that heals looks like.
Yesterday I was listening to a YouTube talk and someone had money they were giving to help a community and someone representing a church group spoke up asking if the money had been allocated. People erupted in anger because they didn’t like how religious charities operated in their communities.
You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it requires people to make the dream a reality. Walt Disney
We need to talk about what is happening in our societies and what we want to happen in them. But, we have such diverse views, that we think help should look different. We think some help is enabling, some is too harsh, and some gets gobbled up by those who don’t need help.
I’ve wondered for a long time what real help looks like, and how to build a good society. How were cities, towns, and communities built? How did we manage to have towns that worked? What principles are behind building them, and were the people different? Could we build the National Railroad now, and why not? If we built a good society, we should be able to sustain a good society, and if we can’t, why can’t we?
One of the problems we have is looking at everything we’ve done, and everything we’ve built through a negative lens. I don’t think the Canada we’ve built is perfect, but it’s pretty good, maybe we can make it better, but we know we can make it worse.
Personal responsibility was one of the things that built Canada, America, and probably everywhere that is good. Are people responsible for the lives and societies they build? If not, why not?
It is necessary for us to learn from other’s mistakes. You will not live long enough to make them all yourself. Admiral H.G. Rickover
The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation – a force for construction and destruction. Jonathan Haidt
Brick by brick, stone by stone, every great thing was built by those who believed they could. Tom Mitchell
Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read some more and have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
