So many things come to mind! And not necessarily in order of importance....
Intentional gun control. Not taking everyone's guns, but regulating the purchase and possession of fire arms. I'm sorry (not sorry) but some people should not own guns based upon their mental health or personal history. You know what, my Daddy owns guns and so do a lot of other people I know. But, if my Daddy gets mad, he might slam a few cabinet doors (and he loves Jesus but he cusses a little) but he isn't going to run to the gun safe to air out his grievances. That is the difference, folks. It is so nuanced, I know. I don't know how exactly how to personally contribute to this horrific situation in our own country, but I know it is more than thoughts and prayers. Education and voting are about the extent of my reach. (Go ahead, New Zealand!)
Ending Pollution. I'm sorry you don't believe the ice caps are melting. I'm sorry you don't see the ocean turning into a landfill. I'm sorry if you think the end of the world is not immediate and therefore not your problem. It's okay, we don't need trees to breathe! What do I do about this situation? What do we all do? Well, personally, we don't own gas guzzling SUV's that drive like army tankers. If you own one and need one, fine. But I think we can all be more mindful of how frequently we ride the road. Do all of your errands at once. Carpool. I'm all about learning how we can harness the power of wind and solar energy. I like the idea of electric cars, can we make them affordable? When I go to the grocery store, I try to take reusable bags, just a small thing. But, counter to that, we use an awful lot of plastic sandwich bags...so you know, balance.
Ending Religious Persecution. Just because you think your religion (which came down to you based upon your geographical location, societal prescriptions, and family of origin) is the right way, or the only way to eternal life, transcendence...whatever it is.... does NOT give you the right to judge, hinder, or persecute others from experiencing, worshiping, and living their own religious beliefs. I believe that stronger education about world religions and other cultures would go a long way to tackling this issue. This is why whenever I have oversight of a confirmation class in a church, I always teach World Religions. I took courses in college on World Religions, I think it should be required, in high school! We teach history and science, we shouldn't overlook how religious beliefs have shaped both.
Shut down all the "-isms." Racism, Class-ism, sexism, ageism. Come on y'all. I would say "it ain't hard" but Lord help us, it is hard. It is hard because we have lived with it for eons. It is so ingrained in us, in our society, we do not even trust where to begin. And everyone participates in some sort of "-ism" so the idea that we are living life perfectly by staying in our own lane is just crap. I think we have to own our privilege--at least for me, I recognize that I am a white female who comes from a healthy middle class family. I went to college, graduate school, and have maintained employment. I am married to a white man who also has an education, and we are raising a white, male child with all the opportunities that we have also enjoyed. I have a roof over my head, food on my table, and praise the Lord, a loving family who has helped us more than we could ever repay. I believe a huge part of the solution is awareness, just be mindful, just listen to understand, just be present. We have to open our eyes--injustice DOES exist.
You know what the one thing may be that could alter the landscape for all of these things? COMPASSION! Where is our compassion for all living things? Where is our respect for one another? Did it fly the coop when Twitter was invented? The rhetoric of our national and international landscape is appalling!
Brene Brown defines compassion as this: "Recognizing the light and dark in our shared humanity, we commit to practicing loving-kindness with ourselves and others in the face of suffering." Yes, Lord let it be so! And in case you are wondering, loving-kindness is in the scriptures, the Hebrew word is hesed. It's Biblical! It absolutely blows my mind that the worst offenders of judgement, the least compassionate individuals in the world often claim to be followers of Christ. Do you see, even now I am judging! Even now I am projecting my views upon "the other."
But, it does not matter to me if you are Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, Buddhist--our shared humanity should drive you to be compassionate. It does not matter if you proclaim yourself Republican or Democrat....honest to goodness close your mouth and open your ears a little more. I include myself in this plea! To have respect, to seek understanding, to practice empathy. The world is not so polarized as we have made it to be. We have allowed ourselves to become manipulated by people of wealth and power in order to line their pockets or widen their circles of influence. We hide behind our smart phones and our computer screens where the news is fake and humankind is theoretical. What happened to the proverbial filter? What happened to reaching across the aisle? Our senses are so dulled by over stimulation that we fail to see, fail to hear, fail to feel both our own humanity, and the humanity of every individual we meet. If we could walk toward common ground, recognizing that it can be a sacred, holy space... we might find ourselves experiencing empathy and compassion not only directed toward others from our own hearts, but mirrored back to us.
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