This leaves me, and I think most of us, with an ever-present question hammering in our heads--How do we fix this? The truth is that we can't. The problem is too big for us and too big to conquer in just our lifetime, after all, human atrocities have been happening throughout the ages...but we must try anyway. We must be seed planters, planting random seeds wherever we go--some may be noxious weeds, but hopefully most will bear beautiful fruit.
We plant millions of seeds for our children, one for every word and action their keen eyes and ears observe. They feel our hugs and encouragement, they also notice the tone of our voices when we joke and complain. Are we planting seeds of respect for all of God's creation? Seeds of caring and concern or seeds of judgment and selfishness? Hopefully enough good plants grow to choke out the weeds.
The seeds planted in our community are the type that float on the wind to far-away places. We may never see these seeds sprout and grow, but we must plant them anyway. These are the seeds of connection--the seed of hope planted in a lonely neighbor's heart when you look him in the eye and he is so thankful to have another person really "see" him, another neighbor's relief to share a heavy burden when you offer to lend a hand, the sense of good-will you share when you smile and greet people passing by. These seeds of connection grow silently, out-of-sight, passed on when those you meet connect with others.
Over time we can water these seeds with encouragement and try to root out bad ones like racism and hatred, but ultimately we cannot make them grow--chances are they will not even mature in our lifetime. All we can do is faithfully plant good seeds...every day...and let God cause them to grow. That is how we change the script of our daily news. That is how we build a better world.
