How to Change the World

As hurricane Sandy, the Frankenstorm, has pelted the eastern seaboard in recent days we’ve been inundated with statistics about how many people have lost their homes, their lives, their electricity, etc. The list goes on and on. But even before that recent and pretty epic tragedy there were already plenty of statistics for us to deal with. Many of us can quote the numbers of children who die each day or year from malaria, malnutrition, AIDS and so on. We have statistics on virtually every subject imaginable. In fact, we have a whole world of statistics. The western world seems to like them because they are easy to quote on the nightly news or in government reports. They impress us in documentaries and fund raising literature. We love our statistics because they’re informative and concise and they boil down enormous issues and problems into digestible morsels of data, the way scientific notation condenses nearly incomprehensible numbers into representations that we can at least pretend to understand. But we also like statistics because they are safe. They can impress and influence us without our having to deal emotionally with actual starving children or sick people or combat casualties or rape victims. Nice round numbers insulate us from the pain and suffering of strangers, the atrocities of conflict, and the devastation of disasters. Statistics move us just enough to encourage our donations or votes, without forcing us to get our hands dirty. They tie desperate needs and overwhelming social issues into nice, tidy packages that we can respond to without getting too flustered.

However, it’s extremely difficult to love a number. We can feign passion, but true compassion requires action. The fact is that we can never actually change the world by simply throwing money at statistics, for they are but the shadowy reflections of much deeper issues. Laurie Beshore, the author of the book “Love Without Walls” recently put this in perspective for me when she said, “Behind every number is a name. Behind every name is a face, Behind every face is a person. And behind every person there is a story.” In the end, we can never change the numbers unless we change people’s individual stories. Writing a check helps. But the only way to actually change the world is to step into people’s lives and care about them individually. We have to learn their names, hear their stories and intervene in those stories. It makes us feel good to write a little check and send it to some organization, and we absolutely should do that. But if that is all we do then we are, in a very real sense, simply subcontracting our compassion. If you actually want to change the world you have to love people individually and make a difference in their lives individually. Programs can never change the world. Politics can never change the world. Only love actually changes the world. And it happens on the front lines … one person at a time.

So the question is are you going to change the world, or is someone else just doing all the work on your behalf? If there’s a tug of some kind on your heart right now I beg you to respond to it. Don’t just read the statistics. Do something about it. Actually, personally, inconveniently, selflessly do something about it. This is your call to get involved in the solution. I’m sharing two poems below which I hope may provide some inspiration to take action. The first recaps what I’ve written above, perhaps in a form you can share with others. The second explains why I care so much. Perhaps it’s also one to share with others. Now, let’s go change the world. Because together, we can make a difference.

The Face Behind the Number

We read all of the statistics

Or we hear them on T.V.

And they move us for a moment

But that fades so rapidly

Because we cannot love statistics

Or connect with what they mean

When we are isolated from them

And their objects are unseen

But behind every statistic

Is a name, a face, a life

Every number is a person

Who knows pain and fear and strife

And every person has a story

As unique as fingerprints

Which no statistic could do justice

Being but the merest hint

So if we want to change the numbers

We have to know the names

See the faces, touch the lives

From which each statistic came

We must befriend the people

Embrace them individually

Bind our lives to theirs and intervene

In their stories lovingly

That is how we change the world

For no statistic can be changed

Until we change each person’s story

Because each number has a name

                By Frank Carpenter ©

The Least of These

I know that look, the look of pain

I've seen it time and time again

In the eyes of children on the street

And people who just need to eat

I've seen it on the tired and old

Whose lives were spent on fool's gold

And lonely people everywhere

Who simply want someone to care

It's the face of poverty and need

Of famine, flood and tyrant's greed

The face that haunts me in the night

And even in the broad daylight

Imploring me to stop and care

Instead, I pass and blindly stare

Ahead, to comfort and security

And away from those who so need me

My pristine little world is safe

From homeless beggar and starving waif

But not from God, whom I asked in

Whose voice I hear above the din

Who pierces hardened hearts like mine

And melts the ice of stubborn minds

And calls me to reach out and care

For those in need and in despair

For Jesus feels every tear

He knows each pain and every fear

Those with hunger, heart ache and disease

Jesus knows the least of these

So if I turn my back on them

I have, in fact, done so to him

For only by the way I care

Will people know that God is there

Lord, break my heart and bend my knees

That I may love the least of these

                 By Frank Carpenter ©

Don't forget to check me out on Twitter @frankpoet

Crossroads

Sometimes we reach junctions in life, by our own choice or otherwise, where the way may seem unclear. We can only look so far down the path of each option, which can lead to some fear and uncertainty as well. This can paralyze people with doubt and lead to inaction. Yet, while such curve balls in life obviously present challenges, they also represent the moments of greatest opportunity. Perhaps therein lays the formula for approaching such events. For I have observed that challenges are the gatekeepers of opportunity. These crossroads of change can be a gift if we are willing to accept them as such. So many of us wake up each morning and do the same thing we did yesterday. We follow the routine we have become accustomed to because it is familiar and safe and comfortable, having been conditioned to believe that people who rock the boat tend to end up getting wet. But what if one of the formulas for happiness and significance is actually to rock the boat? What if we become better people by getting wet once in a while? What if those challenging moments of opportunity are actually a gift from God? Maybe it’s good for us to walk a little closer to the edge once in a while.

The fact is that even the paths we traditionally perceive as safe don’t always turn out to be so. The stock market can crash, a job or a company or a pension may fail, a key relationship can change or, God forbid, we could get very sick. There really are no guarantees in life and the things we often choose to cling to sometimes prove to be less buoyant or stable than we thought. In the end our hope and happiness can’t be anchored entirely on external factors, or upon a rigid course that we assume will absolutely lead us to a desired destination. Sometimes it’s just not that simple. The one thing, however, that we are in complete control of is our constant opportunity to choose how we will respond to whatever life sends our way.  So when we reach those junctures in life they need not be feared. For they can absolutely be, as implied in my question above, gifts from God.

Today I find myself at just that kind of crossroad. At such a moment I find some solace and inspiration in Robert Frost’s classic poem, The Road Not Taken, which I’ve taken the liberty to paste below for your consideration. Such sentiments are instructional as we wrestle with options in our own hearts and minds. As I strain to perceive the final destination of each path available to me it can be a little overwhelming, and there is a natural tendency to face such moments with trepidation. However, when I consider that each path, though conceivably strewn with unseen obstacles, is actually a vessel of opportunity it alters my perspective entirely. The challenges are certainly easier to imagine than the opportunities, but that is actually just a matter of perspective. I don’t know what you might be facing today, but I’m encouraging you to face it with hope and optimism. The future will always be shrouded in haze, but the present is ours to command. We should absolutely make careful and informed decisions, tempered with wise counsel and prayer. That goes without saying. But if you woke up this morning, then the world is still your oyster. A crossroad can be frightening and it’s easy to ask yourself, “What if I make the wrong choice?” This may be a valid question, but it can also lead to a mire of indecision. The real question for us to ask ourselves today is, “What if I make the right choice?” That question will be an excellent first step towards embracing the future and all the opportunities which lie ahead. Are you ready? I say, “Rock the boat.”

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

By Robert Frost

Here Comes the Boom

I had the opportunity this week to preview the new Kevin James movie, Here Comes the Boom. If you aren’t familiar with it, let me begin with a synopsis from the official web site: www.boom-movie.com:

“In the comedy Here Comes the Boom, former collegiate wrestler Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a 42-year-old apathetic biology teacher in a failing high school. When cutbacks threaten to cancel the music program and lay off its teacher (Henry Winkler,) Scott begins to raise money by moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter. Everyone thinks Scott is crazy – most of all the school nurse, Bella (Salma Hayek) – but in his quest, Scott gains something he never expected as he becomes a sensation that rallies the entire school.

I knew from the previews that this little movie wouldn’t be an Oscar contender. However, I was intrigued in advance by the story and the message. In fact, I absolutely loved this film. Kevin James was predictably funny, with his trademark self-deprecating humor and lots of physical comedy. Henry Winkler and Salma Hayek also delivered strong supporting performances. I don’t generally expect much from Henry Winkler, but his quirky role was actually kind of inspirational. The surprise was that this is a movie that makes you both laugh and cry. We knew it would be both cute and funny, but the overarching message got to me and I walked out of the theater wanting to be a better person and fight for what is right.

As it turns out there was more depth and intrinsic value tucked into this B movie comedy than I had anticipated. It’s really about the struggle against personal and institutional mediocrity which is so pervasive in our society, and how the actions of one person can create a momentum that changes the lives of everyone around them. Along the way, we discover an infectious growth in the protagonist’s humanity that affects the other characters, while also spilling off of the screen and into the audience. Sure, it’s funny-even silly. But that humor is effectively employed to poke a sarcastic finger into some of the shortcomings of our educational system … and ourselves.

There are enough sub-stories to add texture to the plot and keep us interested, and they are complemented by a host of humorous peripheral characters who clearly strengthen the backdrop. This story also cobles together and contrasts a mosaic of unlikely subjects which add perspective including: mixed martial arts (cage fighting), the power of music, the privilege of citizenship, the value of education, and the triumph of the human spirit. Granted all this is explored through comedy, and there are also a lot of cage fighting scenes to wade through, but the ends definitely justify the means so it’s absolutely worth the ride.

And all this is accomplished without sex or profanity. The lead couple didn't even kiss until the end, and the only couple who got pregnant had been married for twenty years. The fight scenes were necessarily violent, which is a concern for some younger viewers, but their contrast to James' mild-mannered character and mission actually added to the story. There’s clearly a time to tell a long, depressing tale … and that’s often important, but I have a soft spot for a good comedy. And this little film, which turned out to be as surprisingly inspirational as it is funny, is the reason I personally go to the movies. Here Comes the Boom opens in theaters this weekend and I highly recommend it.  

 

Bonus:

For a biographical perspective on Kevin James, his faith, and his career, check out this article as well:
http://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/comic-actor-kevin-james-wants-to-glorify-god-in-every-way/