You don't have to go far.
“It is much more hopeful, it is much more gratifying, much more effective to live this life as a ‘we’. And I think as young people listen to this, as they are starting to shape their paths, I would really strongly encourage them to think about building lives that are self-less. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but it truly is the better way to live. It's more fun.” - The Michelle Obama Podcast, Episode 1.
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(Yes, if you follow me on socials, that is the second time I’ve quoted the same podcast this week. But you all, it’s just THAT good.)
Every summer for the last 9 years, I have helped to lead or been a part of a summer trip for students.
I can’t let it go by quietly without acknowledging with sadness that my water bottle is sitting in a different place this summer. Not attached to my backpack. Not in the center console of a pickup truck. Not on the ground next to a metal folding chair. But, by my side, while I stay at home.
It was the right call in May and still now, for the sake of others well being, serving this summer meant not traveling - As the virus present in our world still persists in a very real way.
So instead I sit by my back window in our bedroom, rocking Cael, and I pray.
When I can find the words, I pray for the places we know and love and would have spent time in and people we would have spent time with. I pray for team members, that their hearts might still be shifted and changed. That they might still remember why living “me last” and speaking with encouragement and having real conversations — instead of staring at our phones, is the best most life giving way to live. I pray for people who are in need of help - who are now even more isolated... I pray for wise use of our time, that instead of sweating outside over building supplies, we can use it in other meaningful ways, for example: expanding our awareness of racial injustice and unlearning our own unconsciously engrained biases.
And what I’ve learned is when I choose to do something, over nothing, a greater capacity of hope is produced in me. My hope over possibility in changed plans continues to walk right alongside my disappointment and grief over our global pandemic situation, (because btw it’s still a very large situation... so wear a mask.) Maybe I’m the only crazy one who hopes that hard. But I’ve seen what crazy hope can do.
So if you’re like me, thinking about changed summer plans, here’s a push to choose activism today over another episode you’ve been streaming for 12hrs. I know it’s not easy - trust me, new babies make you want to only sleep and stream shows... Choose to call someone or text them, send someone a surprise or a meal, mow your neighbors lawn, play a game with your siblings, support a small business you love, donate financially to a good cause, read a book on faith and race (I’m currently reading the Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby, and it’s teaching me and wrecking me every day). Just do whatever you can think of that will stir up some energy in your body and by extension hope in your heart.
Today is another reminder I do not need to go anywhere to love and serve. Sometimes it’s harder to do it up close, in our daily lives. Sometimes, and if I’m honest - most times, I think it actually has a bigger impact.